My school district, the Douglas County School District,  has recently gone to great lengths to cut costs, including going to some higher deductible medical plans and also some new wellness programs.  At first I sort of thought that adding a wellness program was sort of counterproductive considering that they were actually trying to CUT medical costs.  But then it dawned on me that keeping employees healthy by offering wellness incentives programs might actually cut down on the number of doctor visits and treatments of various conditions including high cholesterol, obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes.

What was funny to me was that we actually had to enroll in this wellness program, if we decided to participate, (and that was optional,) only during the normal open enrollment period for signing up for next year’s benefits.  I mean, I can’t predict how much time I’ll have next year for participating in such a program!  What if I suddenly want to participate in September or something?  I guess all I can do is wait and watch and see how others do it and like it during the school year, and then sign up next May for the ’10-’11 school year if I want to join then.

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