Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM), one of the country’s leading health and well-being companies, has awarded three Wisconsin employers a Total Health Thriving Together Award for building a culture of health and well-being for their employee workforce.

The award recognizes Central High School in the District of Westosha, Milwaukee Academy of Science and Cooperative Educational Service Agency #1 (CESA #1) of Pewaukee for achieving one of the best wellness engagement rates in the country. Each of the employers engaged 80 percent or more of employees and family dependents in improving their personal health behavior.

Central High School recognized several years ago that adopting a wellness and engagement program would help manage claims costs while also improving employee health and productivity. The company integrated its standard medical plan with Humana’s wellness solutions in July 2013 in an effort to personalize wellness and encourage and incentivize behavior change in its 132 employees and their families.

“We thank Humana for presenting this award to Central High School and share it proudly with our employees,” said Emily Birch, Human Resource and Benefit Specialist. “I am so proud of the dedication our employees have made in making lifestyle choices that help take control of not only their own health but their family’s as well. We truly have created a culture of wellness and will continue to improve the health of our employees.”

Tresca Meiling, Manager of Development and Community Engagement, received the Total Health Thriving Together Award for Milwaukee Academy of Science, an independent charter school serving approximately 1,000 students from K4 to 12th grade.

“Health and wellness is now a part of our culture,” Meiling said. “Getting to 100 percent staff participation in our wellness engagement is a great goal to achieve, but is just the expectation at Milwaukee Academy of Science. We value health and wellness and enjoy the rewards from Humana for doing so.

“What really stands out at Milwaukee Academy of Science is not only that staff has seen improvement in their overall health and well-being, but the excitement of being active has trickled down to the students,” Meiling said. “Classes opt to take the stairs to get more steps and reaching 10,000 steps a day has become second nature for both staff and students.”

CESA #1, an educational agency that provides services to 45 school districts located across six counties in Southeastern Wisconsin, incorporated wellness initiatives for its 150 employees more than four years ago. Mary Gavigan, Executive Director of CESA #1, said the organization considered the effort so important that it launched a Wellness Committee to develop health resources to encourage staff to live healthier lives both at work and at home. “This initiative has had a very positive impact on CESA #1's culture, while realizing significant health insurance savings,” Gavigan said.

“We are honored to recognize each of these employers with the Total Health Thriving Together Award,” said Beth Bierbower, President of the Group Segment for Humana. “This achievement represents the considerable time and energy dedicated by our valued customers and Humana to make wellness a priority, building a culture of health and well-being.”

Humana’s Total Health solution provides a full partnership with employers to improve well-being through Humana’s wellness and reward program, Go365, designated engagement resources, and a multi-year agreement that gives the opportunity for the company to receive a wellness discount based on achievement. Humana has found that companies who combined Total Health and Go365 with a standard medical plan experienced nine times higher wellness engagement of employees.

Through a three-year claims and productivity study, Humana found that, on average, those engaged employees with chronic conditions had 51 percent lower claims costs than unengaged employees with chronic conditions.

Humana has seen a 28 percent growth in Total Health since 2014. More than half of Total Health groups receive a wellness discount in their first renewal year, which increases to 70 percent of groups upon their second renewal in the program.

About Humana

Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Ky., is a leading health and well-being company focused on making it easy for people to achieve their best health with clinical excellence through coordinated care. The company’s strategy integrates care delivery, the member experience, and clinical and consumer insights to encourage engagement, behavior change, proactive clinical outreach and wellness for the millions of people we serve across the country.

More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the Investor Relations page of the company’s web site at www.humana.com, including copies of:

  • Annual reports to stockholders
  • Securities and Exchange Commission filings
  • Most recent investor conference presentations
  • Quarterly earnings news releases
  • Calendar of events
  • Corporate Governance information

About Westosha Central High School

Westosha Central High School is a public high school located in the village of Paddock Lake, Wisconsin near the border of the town of Salem. We serve students in grades 9 through 12 in the municipalities of Wheatland, Salem, Brighton, Paris, Paddock Lake, Trevor, New Munster and Bristol. The school was founded in 1952.

About Milwaukee Academy of Science

Milwaukee Academy of Science is an independent charter school located in the heart of Milwaukee that serves approximately 1,000 students from K4-12th grade. Milwaukee Academy of Science was established in 2000 and now has over 100 employees.

About Cooperative Educational Service Agency #1

Cooperative Educational Service Agency #1 (CESA #1) is an educational organization that provides services to 45 school districts located across six counties in Southeastern Wisconsin. Our mission is to provide high-quality, cost-effective programs and services that are responsive to the dynamic needs of our members, clients, and the students they serve. As a regional cooperative, we leverage local, state, and national resources to support schools in providing quality learning opportunities for all students.