When Public Health and Genetic Privacy Collide: Positive and Normative Theories Explaining How ACA's Expansion of Corporate Wellness Programs Conflicts with GINA's Privacy Rules

The passing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a triumph for the field of public health. Its inclusion of many provisions intended to prevent illness and promote health endorses the core belief of public health as expressed by Dr. Georges Benjamin, the long-time executive director of the American Public Health Association, in a Washington Post opinion piece praising ACA for “provid[ing] care as far upstream as possible… [in order to] reduce costs by identifying problems early and then managing them to reduce or eliminate the need for more costly care in the future.” In this article, I consider the conflict between ACA’s adoption of public health goals seeing population health and societal interests in protecting individuals from discrimination based on their health. The article focuses on one aspect of ACA which seeks to lower the costs to employers who provide health insurance for their employees by making it easier for them to offer their employees substantial incentives for participating in and meeting the goals of employer-sponsored Wellness Programs.

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Ronald J.Burke and Astrid M.Richardsen (Eds.). Corporate Wellness Programs: Linking Employee and Organizational Health. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 2014, 392 pages, $155.00 hardcover.

Personnel Psychology ◽

10.1111/peps.12159 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 69 (2) ◽

pp. 507-509 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

YoungAh Park

Keyword(s):

Wellness Programs ◽

Organizational Health ◽

Corporate Wellness Programs ◽

Corporate Wellness ◽

Edward Elgar

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Wellness marketing in the corporate context

International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing ◽

10.1108/ijphm-04-2019-0027 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 273-288

Author(s):

Faith Bontrager ◽

Kimball P. Marshall

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Best Practices ◽

Wellness Programs ◽

Internal Marketing ◽

Content Type ◽

Healthy Behaviors ◽

Corporate Wellness Programs ◽

Corporate Wellness ◽

Care Costs

Purpose This paper aims to provide a literature review of corporate wellness programs to develop recommendations for effective internal marketing of healthy behaviors in work environments. Design/methodology/approach A review of research literature published since 2000 addresses corporate wellness programs’ justifications and best program design practices. Findings Corporate and employee benefits documented in the literature are reviewed and best practices from published literature are identified to guide the design of wellness programs. These include framing clear messages, alignment of corporate culture and business strategy with wellness program goals, senior leader support, clear objectives and evaluation, incorporation of peer support and enjoyable activities, utilization of effective priming for healthy choices and consideration of legal and ethical incentives. Research limitations/implications Further research is needed, including how to frame messages for diverse work groups, how to carry out effective program assessments, what types of marketing appeals are effective, what wellness activities lead to healthy behavior change and how is increased employee productivity related to quality of life. Additional questions include how priming encourages healthy behaviors, what promotes healthy workplace cultures and what social marketing appeals promote healthy behaviors. Practical implications Senior managers can implement findings to create effective wellness programs benefiting employees and firms through improved employee health and productivity and reduced corporate health-care costs. Social implications Effective wellness programs reduce overall health-care costs for society and provide improved participants’ quality of work, personal and family life. Originality/value This research uniquely applies internal marketing, social marketing and marketing exchange concepts to best practices from the wellness literature and applies these to recommendations for effective corporate-based wellness programs.

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