HealthPartners and Minneapolis Regional Chamber expand access to health and well-being programs for employers

The collaborative effort helps small-to-midsize businesses access more affordable well-being services for their employees

Bloomington, Minn. — HealthPartners and the Minneapolis Regional Chamber are partnering to expand access to employer-sponsored health and well-being programs. The collaboration creates a coordinated approach to address shared cost drivers and a volume-based discount that gives thousands of businesses more competitive rates for industry-leading health services than they could arrange on their own.

HealthPartners will offer its Living Well solutions to employers that are participating in the chamber’s mspWellness program which is open to any employer regardless of chamber membership. The mspWellness program helps businesses of all sizes create healthier work environments by providing resources, technical assistance and programming.

Living Well will enhance the value of the mspWellness program and include a health assessment, personalized digital activities, 24-hour access to tools and resources, health coaching, onsite health solutions and more. It can be purchased through mspWellness regardless of a business’ health insurance carrier.

“The direct and indirect impacts of the pandemic make a focus on health and well-being more important than ever,” said Andrea Walsh, president and CEO of HealthPartners. “Employers helping employees achieve personal health goals and reduce health care costs is a win-win. In partnership with the Regional Chamber we are pleased to provide the tools to make it easy to support health.”

Proven results of HealthPartners Living Well solutions

There are a number of health issues that drive health care costs and a significant number can be addressed through support for lifestyle improvements and healthy habits. Treating musculoskeletal disorders, diabetes and heart disease, and mental health concerns with support and resources to meet individual health goals can have a significant impact on health and health care costs. HealthPartners Living Well solution helps employers implement workplace well-being programs that encourage employees to take steps to improve their health. Research shows:

• More than 50 percent of participants who exhibited risk for stress were able to remove that risk over the course of a year by engaging in HealthPartners Living Well activities.
• Nearly four out of five participants improved a lifestyle risk factor, like low physical activity or too little fruit and vegetable consumption, or removed a lifestyle risk factor, like being overweight or obese, when participating in HealthPartners Living Well activities.
• A 95 percent year-over-year participant satisfaction rating among those who used HealthPartners Living Well solution.

“A core part of our mission is to build partnerships that create a healthy, thriving economy. And, a thriving economy depends on the health and well-being of our communities,” said Jonathan Weinhagen, president and CEO of the Minneapolis Regional Chamber. “Through our collaboration with HealthPartners, employers – particularly smaller employers – can more easily access a comprehensive, evidence-based wellness program that’s affordable, so they can better support, retain and recruit employees.”

As of 2020, 53 percent of small companies had some type of wellness program compared to 81 percent of large companies, according to the KFF Employer Health Benefits 2020 Annual Survey.