We live in communities of tremendous diversity, both culturally and philosophically, and it’s likely your charter school faculty and staff reflect many aspects of that diversity. In that case, many in your workforce may already use alternative medicine to treat various conditions and maintain their health and fitness. A significant portion of alternative medicine is not covered by typical health insurance plans. As part of your talent attraction and retention strategy, you may want to look into programs that can provide your employees with access to discounted alternative health care.
More than one-third of American adults have used alternative medicine – from acupuncture, biofeedback, massage therapy to nutritional counseling, herbal supplementation and exercise specialties such as Yoga, Tai Chi and Pilates. Often nontraditional modes of treatment can complement traditional western medicine, especially in alleviating pain, stress and anxiety. But traditional health insurance alone does not support such holistic approaches.
Allowing your employees to make choices about their health and saving them money on alternative providers are available through discount network programs at affordable rates. While these programs are not insurance, they do give your employees significant savings with the flexibility to make their own decisions for meeting their health needs. The discount programs do not limit how frequently employees use their benefit.
"Alternative medicine can complement western medicine, alleviating pain, stress and anxiety."
Massage therapy has become very popular and is highly effective in improving relaxation, reducing stress as well as providing pain relief from musculoskeletal conditions and overexertion. While some employers have made massages available in the workplace, it may not be ideal for scheduling such services and specified treatments are necessarily limited. Alternative medicine discount programs give employees the ability to schedule the right treatment on their own time with a network provider near home or work. And the services are available to their covered family members as well.
Most employees perceive benefit enhancements that give them more flexibility to customize to their family’s own needs enough to voluntarily pay the low monthly costs. For those who are already using alternative medicine, the savings from the discount program will pay those costs many times over. Through complementary medicine, employers may see productivity improvements and lower absenteeism. An alternative medicine discount program for your charter school can be a real win-win!
