What is WellNecessary and how do they carry out their mission?

WellNecessary is a cloud-based software that facilitates the spending of pre-tax income on wellness related activities. In addition, we provide surveys and data for employers to monitor the impact of this wellness spending so that you can insure it is increasing your companies profitability (which is necessary in order to deduct this spending from your company’s taxes.)

Why should I use WellNecessary?

We have free reviews, advice, and a supportive community that you can reach out to discuss wellness with. We also provide small business and individuals with payment and scheduling tools so that they can easily arrange healthy activities for individuals or groups.

How does the WellNecessary Program Work?

You can either sign up all your employees by funding a joint WellNecessary account or you can give them the ability to opt in. Opting in means that a portion of the employees paycheck is set aside to be spent on healthy activities. In this case, each employee has their own WellNecessary balance that reimburses their wellness expenses.

How can I encourage my employees to join?

You can fund your employees account to get them into fitness or you can match the amount of money that the employee chooses to put into the program. Suppose, your employee decides to put $100 a month towards the program, and you match that with $100. Your company now puts $200 dollars towards the program which is deducted from your taxes as a business expense. Suppose your company and your employee both pay a marginal income tax rate of 30%. Given the above scenario, your employee pays $30 dollars less in taxes and foregoes $70 of after-tax income but gains $200 that they can spend on things like exercises classes, gym membership, triathlons and more. Your company pays $100 less in wages but spends $200 on the wellness program, enabling your company to deduct an additional $100 from your company’s taxable income, which results in a savings of $30. Thus at a net cost of $70 you can provide your employee with a net benefit of $130, nearly doubling the value of your hard earned money! Furthermore, this is money well spent, because your employee will be more productive and happy and their healthcare costs will likely decline.

In the above example, if you decide not to match your employees contribution to the program,. your employee converts $70 that could be spent on anything, into $100 that can be spent on healthy things like kayak lessons or yoga. Some employees will immediately realize that’s like a raise of 34%!

From the employees perspective, how does the Program work?

(First the employer needs to create a WellNecessary account and is therefore willing to send a portion of an employees income to WellNecessary. Then the employer invites the employee to signup.) The employee signs up through our secure website and decides how much of their income they’d like their employee to send to WellNecessary. The employee enters the credit card(s) that they use when they go to the gym, exercise classes, and so on. Then when the employee uses their credit card at a members location, the charge is identified by our software and their credit card statement is reimbursed by the same amount.

Is my employee’s personal wellness spending data kept private?

Like any business expenses, you need to account for how your company is spending money. So your employee’s wellness spending data is aggregated and reported to you. So you won’t know that Suzy when to the gym at 6:30 pm but you’d know, for example, that 30% of your company’s WellNecessary spending went towards gym membership. Employee surveys ask questions like “Have you been feeling more productive at work?” and similarly the results will be aggregated and reported to you.   

From the employer’s standpoint, how does the Program work?

We provide you with easy-to-use resources and monthly reports that enable you to measure the productivity and well-being of your employees. We also provide you with all the necessary documents for your company to take a tax deduction without having to do additional accounting work.

How is this different from a Health Savings Account?

Unlike an HSA, where the account size is limited, spending is restricted to certain amounts, locations, and rare health events, your WellNecessary Account is completely customizable and flexible and is intended to be used on a daily basis; so you get out of it exactly what you put into it!

Will this reduce the cost of employee health coverage?

Our programs are not just about weight, blood pressure, and quitting smoking- we take a more holistic approach to wellness which is not yet recognized by insurance companies because they mainly deal with hospitals, pharmacies, and other specific instances of western healthcare. However, we are in discussion with certain insurance providers because WellNecessary members tend to either be healthier or become healthier than the average population and therefore members do deserve a health care discounts.