FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMPANIES SAVE AVERAGE OF $5,000 PER DIABETIC EMPLOYEE
BY USING INCENTIVE-BASED HEALTH MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
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Company's health behavior change program decreases medical costs and hospitalizations in year one when incentives such as free medications are used in the benefit plan design.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (October 10, 2008) – Initial financial data released today by Abacus Employer Health Solutions (Abacus) found U.S. companies can save an average of over $5,000 per year on medical claims for each diabetic health plan member who participates in Abacus’ new incentive-based health management program.
“Chronic conditions drive the majority of health plan costs for employers,” said Ed Aberger, Ph.D., executive vice president of Abacus. “Many companies already provide employees with wellness and disease management programs, but they often fail due to lack of participation. Now, we have clear data which shows that adding incentives, such as eliminating the co-pay for prescription drugs, motivates employees to follow health regimens and saves the company money right away.”
Abacus’ unique incentives offered through its Good Health GatewaySM Diabetes Program have resulted in over 50% participation by members with diabetes within just 8 months. This program not only reduces health plan costs to the employer, but it also reduces the out-of-pocket costs to the employee who is proactive in self care. Other benefits of the program include a dramatic reduction in hospital admissions and length of stays for participating employees and a striking increase in the utilization of the available health coaches.
Diabetes is a very serious disease, and when not properly managed, may lead to severe and life-threatening complications and may end up costing companies, plan members themselves, and the health care system considerable money. According to the American Diabetes Association, the total annual economic cost of diabetes in 2007 was estimated at $174 billion. The average expense for an in-patient hospitalization is $2,281 per day when diabetes-related chronic complications are involved.
Abacus has developed and launched condition-specific health management programs for employers seeking to control high costs related to employees with diabetes and other conditions such as cardiovascular disease, depression, prenatal care, and more. Abacus utilizes the expertise of its behavioral scientists to engage employees and drive behavior change in value-based benefit plan designs.
Diabetes is a costly condition with claims costs for members with diabetes averaging more than four times the costs for non-diabetic members. The natural course for diabetes, if left unmanaged, is towards further escalating costs. The Abacus program can prevent this cost escalation and actually achieves cost reductions. This bar graph displays the changes in Per Member Per Month (PMPM) medical claims costs for (a) health plan members who participated in the Abacus diabetes program and met all program requirements, (b) participated but met only some requirements, and (c) those that did not participate.
This graph compares hospitalization rates prior to and after the introduction of the Abacus Diabetes Incentive Program for full program participants, partial participants, and non-participants.
About Abacus Employer Health Solutions
Abacus Employer Health Solutions (Abacus) and its principals are nationally recognized behavioral scientists and health experts who have been providing cost-containment solutions for over two decades. Abacus has developed numerous evidence-based e-health tools financed in part with grant funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Today, Abacus provides employers with an array of unique programs and services to address their wellness and chronic condition management, specializing in integrating behavioral science principles into modern benefit plans and providing incentive program design and administration.