County staff promote employee wellness program; incentives tied to TAC and Blue Cross portals

At the Brown County Commissioners Court meeting, the county’s healthy-county coordinator presented the employee wellness program and encouraged staff participation, saying higher participation increases countywide incentive payments and individual rewards.

The coordinator said the county could receive up to $7,000 in incentive funds with strong employee participation and that last year the county received about $3,000 because participation was lower. She described incentives available through the TAC program and Blue Cross Blue Shield’s wellness portal and gave examples: last year an employee redeemed a $500 Amazon gift card through Blue Cross rewards.

Program mechanics described at the meeting: employees can link a phone or wearable (Fitbit, Garmin, county-issued tracker) to the wellness portal so steps and participation are tracked automatically; the county provides free starter trackers and a $30 device allowance every two years. The coordinator said employees may convert points to gift cards or donate rewards to charities and that the county runs TAC challenges about four times a year that drive county-level payouts.

The presenter said the county also offers a paid day off for employees who complete an annual wellness exam and submit a verification form; staff pointed out that fewer than half of employees participated in the wellness exam incentive in recent years and encouraged supervisors to share verification forms with their teams. The presenter offered to distribute printouts and how-to information to help employees enroll and connect devices.

Commissioners and staff discussed logistics for connecting devices, distributing trackers and tracking participation; no vote or formal action was taken. The coordinator asked employees to contact her for additional information and forms.