Humana Offers Members Gift Cards For Participating In Health Practices

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 29 Feb 2008 - 10:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

Humana last month launched a program, called "Healthy Returns," that provides its Medicare plan beneficiaries with gift cards to Macy's, CVS, Lowe's and Borders as an incentive to adopt healthier lifestyles, Florida Health News reports. The program involves three pilot projects. Under the first program, beneficiaries who enrolled in coverage this year can earn a $15 gift card if they complete a health risk assessment. The assessment will determine whether beneficiaries should exercise more, change their diets or take other steps to reduce the risk of developing health problems. To date, 35,000 beneficiaries nationwide have earned the reward. The two other projects include a more extensive preventive care program and a disease management program for diabetics. Those programs offer gift cards valued up to $125.

Scott Latimer, Humana's market president for senior products in central and north Florida, said, "It's much less expensive for Humana to help people maintain their health than to treat them when they are acutely ill," adding, "Humana is increasingly aware that to be successful, it's not enough to provide strong benefits for people who are ill. We need to get better at reaching out to people to help them maintain their health" (Jaffe, Florida Health News, 2/26).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.