Staff Writer
A new Jacksonville business is focused on helping other businesses take advantage of government tax credits for certified wellness programs.
Dr. Joe Czerkawski may be known throughout Jacksonville as the head team physician for the University of North Florida athletic program, but the business community may become more familiar with him because of the dollars his latest business venture, “HealthLetix-Corporate Wellness,” might be able to save them with the help of the federal government.
“I’ve done a lot of workers comp savings for companies over the last 15 years,” said Czerkawski, who serves as medical director for companies to advise them on workers compensation and occupational therapy issues. “But businesses started to tell me, ‘I’m not worried about workers comp costs anymore. Can you help me on the health-related side?’”
One customer told him that, at any one time, the company had 20-40 people out on medical disability, which caused health insurance premiums to go up at an unsustainable rate.
“Typically, what companies do is shift the cost to employees,” said Czerkawski. “You can’t keep doing that. The result is they use less services when you need them to be the most productive. So you can see the vicious cycle that has been set up over the years.”
Wellness programs are a tool that companies can utilize to help create a healthier workforce, Czerkawski said. Not only can they develop a stronger workforce, but they can also recover costs from a certified program through the “Healthy Workforce Act of 2007.”
The Act provides a tax credit for 50 percent of the costs paid by an employer for providing a “qualified wellness program” during a taxable year. The credit would be limited to an amount not to exceed $200 for each employee and not exceeding 200 employees, plus $100 for each additional employee in excess of 200 employees. Only employees generally working more than 25 hours a week are considered eligible.
In order to claim the tax credit, an employer would be required to obtain a certification by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (in coordination with the director of the Center for Disease Control and the Secretary of the Treasury) that its program meets the definition of a qualified wellness program. This program will include:
• health awareness (such as health education, preventive screenings and health risk assessment).
• employee engagement (such as mechanisms to encourage employee participation).
• behavioral change (elements proven to help alter unhealthy lifestyles such as counseling, seminars, on-line programs, self help materials).
• a supportive environment (such as creating onsite policies encourage healthy lifestyles, eating, physical activity and mental health).
Czerkawski is the Chief Medical Officer for HealthLetix, founded two months ago, which consists of doctors, nutritionists, physiologists, physical therapists, cardiologists, certified sports trainers and corporate executives to develop certified programs to meet the needs of the business community. The two biggest problems employers are facing in the workforce are smoking cessation and obesity.
“We are hoping that the new health care reform bill passes,” said Czerkawski. “Then 100 percent of the program will be deductible, so that should really encourage employers to institute the programs.”
356-2466