Posted by Health Handouts | Posted in Health Handouts, Health Tips | Posted on 29-04-2009
The Partnership for Prevention was formed to encourage Fortune 1000 employers to consider making workforce health a CEO problem and adopt strategies to reward prevention and wellness. After several years of double-digit rate increases for health care insurance, employers are realizing that one of the best ways to slow the cost increases is to have employees take more responsibility for both costs and health choices. A majority of employers surveyed feel that the best way for lowering costs is financial incentives/rewards to encourage employees to adopt healthier lifestyles.
Nearly 100% of employers surveyed say that health costs will be a vital or significant issue over the next five years, according to a survey by United Benefit Advisors. More employers are adopting higher deductible medical plans with HRA’s or HSA’S, wellness programs, and expanded disease management programs in order to control ever-increasing medical costs.
Failure to deal with these concerns might be disastrous for a organization. Wayne Sensor, Chief Executive Officer of Alegent Health recently stated, “I think that we have built a medical care machinery we can’t afford. I think we are choking the economic engine of America.” In his October 2005 newsletter, Dr. Andrew Weil stated, “I think rising health- care costs are becoming the big economic problem in our nation”. Obesity costs California businesses billions of dollars each year. Projected costs for 2005 may reach 28 billion dollars for direct and indirect medical care costs, worker’s compensation, and lost productivity. California has experienced one of the fastest growing rates of obesity of any state.
According to California Health and Human Services Secretary Kim Belshe, “The obesity epidemic is more than a public health crisis, it is an economic crisis.” What is frightening is that most people do not even realize that they are obese, which is defined as only 20 percent above normal weight. There is a great need for additional education on weight and resulting diseases, and the worksite is an ideal venue. Wellness education and programs can result in a important return on investment and, if structured properly, can produce results in a very short period of time.
Although many companies have attempted some form of wellness program in the past, results from those efforts have been disappointing. In many cases, the healthier employees participated for rewards and incentives, such as fitness center memberships, but those who required it most did not take advantage of the program in a meaningful way. Employers are looking at ways to promote more employees to buy into the wellness movement.
A new webinar hosted by Human Resource Executive Magazine and presented by Carlson Marketing Group titled, “Healthier employees; Healthier Bottom Line: Engaging employees is the Missing Link in Managing Healthcare Costs,” drove this point home. This session offered actionable advice on how companies are achieving higher impact with their wellness investments by focusing on employee program engagement. It also highlighted how you can create an Economic Engagement Model to forecast the potential impact for your employer.
Employers can simply no longer disregard the issue of their employee’s unhealthy lifestyles and must take action to engage them in a meaningful wellness program to reduce health expenditures, absenteeism and lost work rate. staff members also profit as they derive better health and greater satisfaction in both their personal and professional lives. The alternative is being caught in a non-competitive position and severely impacting the bottom-line of the business.