Athens Review, Athens, Texas

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November 26, 2008

County moves to get healthy

By Rich Flowers News Editor

It’s time to shape up county government.

The Henderson County Commissioners Court on Tuesday voted to join the Texas Association of Counties Health and Employee Benefits Pool Healthy County Program. Commissioners also named Amiee Freeman as County Wellness Coordinator and Leigh Ann Baker as County Executive Sponsor for the program. The pool is the health insurance provider for the county.

According to TAC, Healthy County is a statewide initiative to lower health care costs by creating healthier employees and elected officials. Two areas of emphasis in the program will be walking and weightloss.

“More than 70 percent of health care costs are attributable to preventable and lifestyle-related conditions,” Jennifer Hall, deputy of Program Administration for Texas Association of Counties, said.

The TAC program begins April 1. Henderson County Treasurer Karin Smith said Freeman and Baker will attend a kick-off conference in San Antonio Feb. 5-6, then start putting the county plan into effect in March.

The local coordinator will set local program goals and priorities based on risk factors and county interest, develop an action plan for county participation and complete an evaluation of the program at the end of the year.

“Every employee that completes this program,” Smith said, “will get $25 dollars, either in a gift card or in cash for each program they complete, for a maximum of $50.”

Counties taking part in the program will receive employer-matching funds for each employee who completes the programs.

In addition to benefits offered by the pool, Healthy County will bring together wellness related resources from various vendors. Blue Cross Blue Shield will provide a 24-hour nurse line, disease management programs for members with chronic illness as well as discounts on Jenny Craig, a health and weight loss program.

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