Mansfield City Schools Treasurer Robert Kuehnle is joined by his staff as they review an Ohio Auditor of State web site that lauds a tax-saving employee wellness plan devised by Kuehnle while at Benjamin Logan Local Schools. From left are Lori Wilburn, Char Bottomley, Leslie Watts, Sheri Gombosch and Rhonda Berry.
An employee wellness program crafted earlier by Mansfield City Schools Treasurer Robert Kuehnle is featured on a state web site that promotes “smarter, streamlined government.”
Kuehnle, hired by the MCS board in January, developed the plan while treasurer at Benjamin Logan Local Schools at Bellefontaine and succeeded in having it become a part of the negotiated agreement with teachers and support staff.
“It saved the district money and improved the overall health of employees,” he said.
Auditor of State Dave Yost agreed. He placed a segment about the wellness program on SkinnyOhio.org, a web site Yost said “is a resource for governments across Ohio to learn about and share innovated practices that can help ‘skinny down’ government and save tax dollars.”
“The district (Benjamin Logan) was headed in a direction where the budget could not keep up with health-care costs,” Kuehnle said. “For every dollar that was budgeted for health care, we were spending $1.03, not including administrative costs.”
The solution was a wellness plan that rewarded employees by engaging them in annual exams and health screenings while offering health savings accounts. In 2014-15 Benjamin Logan spent 63 cents for every dollar budgeted for health care while noting a 12 percent decrease in staff absences which Kuehnle said reflected healthier employees.
The high-deductible health care plan set an annual maximum of $2,000 out-of-pocket medical expenses for single employees and a $4,000 deductible for employees with families. Once the deductibles are satisfied the district pays all other health care expenses for the calendar year.
Single employees have the opportunity to have the district deposit up to $1,600 yearly into their health savings account. Employees on the family play can earn up to $3,200.
Contributions to health savings accounts are made at the rate of $160 per each of 10 “points” an employee achieves. The spouse of a married employee also can earn the points.
“Five are participation points,” Kuehnle explained. “They include annual medical, dental and vision exams, participating in an annual district health educational session and involvement in physical activities such as at a YMCA or similar facility.
“The other five points are earned by meeting specific biometric screening goals for body mass index, blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol and negative for tobacco/nicotine.”
Benjamin Logan hired Bravo Wellness, a private company, to administer the annual screenings and maintain confidentiality of records. Employees may have their private physicians conduct the screenings.
Screenings are optional but anyone who opts not to have them forfeits the possible points toward health savings account contributions.
“Contributions to health savings accounts are earned during the calendar year then deposited into employees’ accounts on Jan. 1,” Kuehnle said. “These are personal bank accounts and balances carry over to the next year.”
A video, “Crafting a wellness program at Benjamin Logan Local Schools,” was posted on SkinnyOhio.org on Dec. 1. It features Kuehnle and Kevin Bodi, vice president of Bravo Wellness.