Peduto Announces Changes To City's Health & Wellness Initiatives
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Getting healthy will have some added financial perks if you work for the City of Pittsburgh.
Changes are coming to the health and wellness initiatives and there could be a trickle-down effect for taxpayers.
Today, Mayor Bill Peduto announced changes to the city's health and wellness initiatives.
He said the city will return to a self-insured health benefits model.
"Basically, instead of paying a large premium to an insurance carrier, we partner with the insurance carrier and then pay as you go," Peduto said.
The mayor said that move will save money all around.
Currently, the city is projected to spend $64 million of taxpayer money on healthcare in 2016, but the changes will reduce that and bring the number to $57 million.
"We wanted to look at ways to not only reduce the rate of growth of healthcare expenses, but also lessen the burden on employees and their families," Office of Management and Budget Director Sam Ashbaugh said.
Employees won't see any changes in terms of their actual healthcare coverage. Their costs will jump between $43 and $485 annually, which is less than if the city would have kept its current arrangement.
A second part of the health and wellness initiative focuses on how to get a healthy workforce, in part through financial incentives for completing a wellness profile and health screening.
"If it's something minor, you can talk to your physician online or you can talk to another physician, you can do it telephonically, you can do it via video," Employee Benefits Manager Stephani Haugan said.
"All of this fitting together, in a comprehensive package of health, wellness, and cost savings is a new approach to how the city is not just offering insurance anymore, but actually offering a full package to our employees to make their lives better," Peduto said.
The mayor said eventually, the wellness program will be expanded and resources will be offered to people all over the city.
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