Congratulations to the 2012 Apex and Shining Light Award Winners

UnitedHealthcare is proud to recognize Jones Lang LaSalle, MasterCard Worldwide and Penn National Gaming, Inc. as Apex Award winners, and Whole Foods as the Shining Light Award winner, for the positive impact their innovative programs and ideas made in 2011.

As a company that values the essential role innovation can play in helping people live healthier lives, it is exciting to see ideas put into action every day that ultimately help support that goal. Please extend congratulations to these clients, who were recently recognized at UnitedHealthcare’s Annual National Accounts Customer Forum May 9-11 in Palos Verdes, Calif.

2012 Apex Awards Winners

Now in its eighth year, the Apex Award is UnitedHealthcare’s annual honor that recognizes the best-designed health care benefits strategies and programs of innovative employers that are working to improve the health care experience for consumers. Its mission is to promote a national dialogue on how these groups are helping advance accessibility, quality, simplicity and affordability in health care.

MasterCard Worldwide was chosen for its “Balance Wellness for Life” program, a comprehensive plan that included wellness coaching, onsite health and fitness centers and financial rewards for healthy behaviors – dollars funded onto a MasterCard. Among other results, the company saw increases in health screenings and a four-year average medical trend of just 2.3 percent, resulting in $6.7 million in cumulative savings.

Jones Lang LaSalle was recognized for its “Health Empowerment Program,” which helped the company meet its challenge of establishing a culture of health and well-being for its employees and their families. The program included wellness pledges that provided employee premium incentives for being tobacco-free and having a healthy body mass index (BMI). Last year, 78 percent of the employees took part in the wellness pledge, while 68 percent engaged in the company’s health rewards program. In 2010, Jones Lang LaSalle’s core trend dipped 3.1 percent, while in 2011 the trend increased by a mere 2.1 percent, resulting in a savings of more than $3 million.

Penn National Gaming, Inc. was honored for successfully tackling the challenges of rising health care costs, driven largely by diabetes, and heart and cardiovascular disease. The company’s “Wellness Works” program encouraged employees to adopt healthy eating habits, exercise and stop smoking. The company implemented “Five Star Healthy Dining” in its cafeterias, held its own “Biggest Loser” competition and a 10,000-Step Challenge. Last year, more than 2,000 employees took on the walking challenge and together more than 1,100 employees cumulatively lost more than 8,000 pounds. The company also saw its health care cost decrease by 2.2 percent in 2011.

The award program is open to current UnitedHealthcare customers with 3,000 or more employees, which are non-public sector entities. Winners were chosen by an independent panel of judges – a combination of previous year’s winners and a nationally recognized consulting partner. The judges considered a range of criteria including:

• Recognition of a pressing health care benefits challenge;
• Innovation and/or leadership in addressing the challenge; and
• Demonstration of impact and measurable results.

Begin thinking about what innovations your clients currently have underway that may qualify them for an Apex Award in 2013. Consider meeting with your UnitedHealthcare representative to discuss ideas, or to develop a strategy if they do not currently have one. Together, we can work to advance your clients’ health care experience.

Whole Foods Presented Shining Light Award

Whole Foods is the winner of the second annual UnitedHealthcare “Shining Light: Leadership in Corporate Social Responsibility” Award for excellence in social responsibility. Whole Foods’ Whole Planet Foundation gives microloans to people in the villages and rural communities that supply Whole Foods stores with products such as tropical fruit, vegetables, tea and coffee. Giving the poor in these communities access to credit through microloans enables them to escape the vicious cycle of poverty by allowing them to use their own energy and creativity to thrive.

A nationally driven Prosperity Campaign runs in Whole Foods Market retail stores, and allows customers to give donations at check-out to support the Foundation’s mission which raised more than $5 million earlier this year. The program was selected, in part, because of the impact it is having.

Here are remarkable results from 2010, the most recent year on record:

• 67,014 clients supported;
• 335,070 people impacted;
• $185 average loan size;
• $25.5 million total loans disbursed;
• 98.4% repayment rate;
• 97.76% percentage of portfolio directed to women; and
• $10.3 million total authorized grants.

The award recipient was selected on three criteria:

• Creation of shared value—providing mutual benefit to the company and to society;
• Innovation and/or leadership in addressing the challenge; and
• Demonstration of impact and measurable results.

Every day, our clients demonstrate their commitment to social responsibility. They tackle significant issues and make a meaningful difference in communities across the nation. These efforts align with business, engage their employees and help the neediest in our society, and we’re honored to “shine a light” on those leaders.