To keep his employees from sleeping on the job, Aetna's chairman and chief executive officer would rather pay them to get a full night's sleep at home.That's the thinking behind one offshoot of Aetna's Healthy Lifestyles program: using incentives that encourage its employees to get seven hours of sleep a night over a period of consecutive nights. If they can stay in dreamland 20 consecutive nights, for instance, Aetna rewards them with $25, said Terence Crawford, Aetna's head of media relations, in an email to Best's News Service.
"If they get that amount of sleep for 40 nights, it goes up to $50, and so on, up to a maximum of $300 in that category," Crawford said. "The sleep program is one part of the overall wellness program."
"Employees track and report their sleep through our electronic wellness program platform," he added. "They can enter it manually, or if they're using a wearable device that tracks sleep (like FitBit) they can sync it with our wellness program platform so it's entered automatically."
Once an employee reached $300, extra incentives in the wellness program can boost the overall payment to $500 per year, he said. "They can also earn an additional $500 for similar healthy activities from a family member."
The program is intended to help support employees in a number of different areas, encouraging physical, mental, emotional and financial wellness, Crawford said. The program is voluntary, he noted.
The program received national attention this past week when Aetna Chairman and CEO Mark Bertolini talked about the sleep enhancement effort on CNBC's "Squawk Box" program. Bertolini noted a "direct link" between well-rested employees and productivity, which ultimately boosts Aetna's bottom line and stock valuation.
Bertolini has taken progressive steps before on behalf of his employees, most notably when he raised the minimum wage of thousands of Aetna workers to $16 an hour. After Aetna announced plans to acquire fellow health insurer Humana last year for $37 billion, Bertolini said he'd extend the $16-an-hour minimum wage to 10,000 Humana workers, too.
Crawford said Aetna also launched an external program last year that's devoted to sleep improvement as well as the effects of sleep deprivation. The program is located on Aetna's website and includes articles, videos, tips and tweets, he said.
The operating insurance units of Aetna Inc. have a current Best's Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent).