Jump Start, our unique, free health improvement program, has been so successful, we’re expanding the program for next year. What that means for you:

• The current version of Jump Start ends Oct. 31. Encourage employees to enroll now to take advantage of the program. They can still enroll at healthpartners.com/jumpstart and will still receive 10,000 Steps enrollment until Halloween.
• Provide one last promotional push in your workplace by using our ready-to-go employee communications materials.
• A new and even better Jump Start launches January 1, 2007. Details to come in this newsletter later this year.

Want to get started? Contact your HealthPartners Sales Executive now.

Jump Start can cut your health care costs by thousands of dollars per year. See “Jump Start to save $6 million!” to find out how this program could save you even more in 2007.

Jump Start to save $6 million! How much of that is yours?

“I feel like HealthPartners actually cares about us. They take an active part in being preventive and making people feel good before they have health problems.”  — Jump Start participant Lisa Johnson, Onalaska, WI

Our Jump Start program is on track to cut health care costs by $6 million or more a year, and some of these savings could be yours! An upgrade for 2007 could mean even more savings.

Jump Start is our unique, free health improvement program. HealthPartners members are invited to take a free online health assessment and receive free enrollment in our award-winning 10,000 Steps® fitness program.

The assessment helps identify members who may be at risk for developing conditions like diabetes and heart disease and directs them to programs and support to help them get healthier. The 10,000 Steps walking program helps them initiate a routine that can improve their health and help head off costly illnesses in the future.

Jump Start has dramatically cut participants’ health care claims the very first year:

• $280 per year for each employee who takes the assessment and completes the eight-week 10,000 Steps program — just becoming aware of health risks lets members take control of them
• $3,000 to $5,000 per year for each employee found at risk for diabetes or heart disease and given the proper care to prevent or delay the disease — like early intervention and referral to HealthPartners disease management programs

Get the most from Jump Start
Here’s what you can do right now to move toward lower claims and better cost control:

• Promote Jump Start in your workplace. Use our ready-to-go emails, posters, flyers and paycheck stuffers. You can download these items now from the employer portal on healthpartners.com.
• Request your Workforce Wellness Profile. This insightful report includes a summary of your employees’ health risks, plus tips on how to create a healthier workplace and cut your long-term costs. It’s available starting September 15

An ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure. That’s why HealthPartners helps your employees remember to get screened when they should.

Last November alone, our automated reminder system made more than 50,000 phone calls to members in need of mammograms, Pap smears (cervical cancer screening) and colorectal screening. We also contacted parents whose dependents needed lead screening or pediatric and adolescent immunizations.

Keeping people well rather than treating them after they get sick saves money in the long run.

“Routine preventive health screenings can identify a previously undiagnosed condition or risk of condition,” says HealthPartners Associate Medical Director Gail Amundson, M.D. “This allows physicians to intervene early with treatments and therapies to control the condition or inform the individual of lifestyle changes that can be taken to improve health outcomes and costs. Early detection and treatment for chronic conditions can improve health.”

Topping the charts
HealthPartners survey scores reflect our commitment to prevention. Our HEDIS scores for 2005 show that we support our members in staying healthy now to avoid costly illness later, especially by:

• adolescent immunizations — HealthPartners ranks in top 75 to 90 percent of health plans surveyed
• advising smokers to quit — top 75 to 90 percent
• breast cancer screening — top 75 to 90 percent
• cervical cancer screening — top 75 to 90 percent
• chlamydia screening — top 75 to 90 percent
• controlling high blood pressure —top 50 to 75 percent
• screening for colorectal cancer — top 75 to 90 percent

Making a difference
“Preventive screenings and tests can save lives,” Amundson says. “Unfortunately, many Americans do not routinely follow some basic health screening recommendations.”

You can help. Remind employees follow through and make screening appointments. Most of these preventive services are 100 percent covered under the health plan and are therefore free of charge to the member; members should consult their plan descriptions for details. Routine vaccinations and screenings can save worry, save money — and may even save lives.