GE Diabetes Management Program Brings Discounts on Diabetes-Related Health Care Expenses & Smokers Get Cash for Quitting

OPEN MINDS Weekly News Wire Strategic Health Care News General Electric (GE), Hewlett-Packard, and Affinia Group are pilot testing a new UnitedHealthcare diabetes management program for diabetic and pre-diabetic employees. Self-insured companies are interested in reducing employees’ health risks that directly affect the companies’ health care costs. GE, for example, in addition to piloting the UnitedHealthcare diabetes management program has also tested the effect of incentive payments on smoking cessation. The payments tripled the odds of quitting for a year, from five percent without incentives to 15%. Due to the incentive program’s success, GE will roll . . .