Stick or Twist - Are you gambling with your employees' health and wellbeing?

Health and risk insurance is not too unlike gambling, as an employer is laying a bet against the probability of a claim occurring. The problem is, as with all gambling, the house always wins. Insurers have to set the rules, odds and pricing in a way that enables them to control their risk and stay in business. Employers, like gamblers, can feel compelled to keep renewing their scheme – even when the decision to open it was made decades ago, when the business was quite different.

Should we stick or twist?

Changing a set behaviour is always difficult, but there are now two factors at play that mean employers cannot afford to carry on gambling with their health and wellbeing spend.

Social shifts: Social change means we are seeing shifts in illness type, with more and more cases of diabetes, heart disease and cancers – diseases closely linked to our lifestyle, and the amount of time many spend sitting at their desks.