Auto Supplier Celebrates Wellness Program Success

BINGHAM FARMS, MI--(Marketwired - Jun 5, 2014) - Valeo is an automotive supplier and partner to all automakers worldwide. In an effort to combat rapidly escalating health care costs for their team members in the USA, Valeo, partnered with their insurance consultant, Kent Grathwohl of Group Associates, and implemented outcomes-based wellness incentives several years ago. They partnered with Bravo Wellness to administer the program and achieved 97 percent participation among the 1500 team members the plan was offered to. Over the same span of time, another business unit of the same size and demographics were not offered this wellness plan, therefore creating a natural control group.

Valeo's populations were analyzed and results showed that the average monthly claims for those in the wellness program were far less than the control group trend as well as the national projected trend. In fact, starting with a similar plan and cost, the population that was not included in the outcomes-based wellness incentive program has averaged more than an 11 percent trend for the past several years while the population in the program experienced only a 2.5 percent claims cost trend over the same period. In addition, the population in the program has been able to slow and reverse the national health trends in obesity, elevated blood pressure, and nicotine usage. Refer to more detail at: http://www.bravowell.com/history/case-studies/110-case-study-valeo

"The Valeo Vitality program is designed to encourage both the team member and their family to be proactive about their health," shared Dennis Clark, USA HR Director at Valeo. "It is intended to educate and empower everyone about their health and support a way of life that lowers health risks. We are incredibly pleased at how well the team members have responded to the program and the difference it is making."

"Being able to compare these two similar groups who had different wellness initiatives has allowed us to truly compare the effectiveness of outcomes-based programs," stated Kent Grathwohl, Vice President at Group Associates. "We take pride in delivering exceptional benefits solutions to our clients. To be able to share the success Valeo is seeing, makes it an exciting time to be in this industry."

"While some organization's costs will increase due to the ACA's challenges, companies like Valeo who embrace and incorporate wellness incentives will actually have an opportunity to reduce costs while positively impacting the lives of their team members," commented Jim Pshock, President and CEO of Bravo Wellness. "We've seen so many other organizations across multiple industries reap the benefits and success of outcomes-based incentives and we are excited to see more and more companies join the wellness movement that actually works."

About Group Associates
Group Associates, a national benefits centric HRO provider, provides solutions to eliminate the burden of Health and Welfare Administration, minimize compliance risks, and reduce costs associated with Health and Welfare Administration.

For more information, visit www.groupassociates.com.

About Bravo Wellness
Bravo Wellness provides independent consulting, incentive program administration and data management for hundreds of employers, insurance companies and wellness program providers, most with very unique incentive designs. Bravo Wellness and its subsidiary, IncentiSoft Solutions, are headquartered in Cleveland, OH.

For more information, visit www.bravowell.com.

About Valeo
Valeo is an automotive supplier, partner to all automakers worldwide. As a technology company, Valeo proposes innovative products and systems that contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions and to the development of intuitive driving. In 2013, the Group generated sales of EUR 12.1 billion euros and invested over 10% of its original equipment sales in research and development. Valeo has 124 production sites, 16 Research centers, 35 Development centers and 12 distribution platforms, and employs 74,800 people in 29 countries throughout the world.

For more information about the Valeo Group and its businesses, please visit www.valeo.com.

*Total number of employees as of end of December 31, 2013.
**Currency conversion based on the average of the 2013 month-end FX Euro to USD of 1.3308.