DMX, BIOS, ADAM, HWAY, GTIV are all contractors with employers and insurance companies marketing, selling, and promoting health and wellness through encouraging insureds to be healthier. From "chronic disease management" to screenings, to working out, these companies work with insurers to keep people well. Those who use their services are promised a return on the dollars they spend in terms of reduced health costs for their employees, insureds get that personalized attention from a business paid to do just that. In its most benign form, its the use of premium dollars by insurers to pay for personal coaching in wellness, in its darker aspect, it's another tier of information gathering, sales and profits for insurance companies as people are referred by the insurance company to the wellness manager then back to the insurance company for coverage of their wellness goals.
Offered as a "free" perk for insureds, these wellness companies, some of which have multiplied their profits in ways that no other stock has, are not really free. They "partner" with insurance companies, and are paid for selling the wellness aspects of insurance coverage as well as disease "management", checking up on diabetics, encouraging screenings and proper diet. While wellness programs, coaching and oversight is a great idea, health insurers should not be spending premium dollars on hiring third parties. The expansion of prevention and management should not be occurring with the contraction of coverage for traditional medical care and the rise in premium costs. While every gym loving veggie eating I will live forever person notes the importance of prevention and yes, management, the incorporation of these services by health insurers is a blurring of purpose that only serves as a trade-off for medical coverage.
Once insurance companies go into this field, the next step will be exclusion of coverage for those who do not use this next level of service (right now it is optional) which will further reduce insurance company liability for the very thing people need health insurance for--the coverage of medical care.
