Companies Plan to Increase Wellness Spending, Survey Shows

A survey of more than 500 employers found that 40% expect to increase wellness budgets and that current top programs include easy-to-implement initiatives such as flu shots, health communications and discount programs. OptumHealth Care Solutions vice president Beena Thomas said 47% of large companies are interested in environmental strategies that influence behavior, such as stocking healthy foods at eye-level in vending machines. Accordingly, 40% of respondents anticipate that their company’s wellness budget will increase in the near future, up from 30% from the group’s 2011 survey.