health care costs

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services challenged our country with a national health objective called “Healthy People 2010”.  The goal was to reduce obesity to 15% of the entire population for each of the 50 states.

Results were bleak: not one state in the country was able to meet the challenge.  Mississippi weighed in heaviest at 34.4%.  Only two states, Colorado and Washington D.C., had rates below 20%.  Even bleaker, the results were self-reported which has shown that participants typically overstate their height and understate their weight.

The report says that the price tag on our collective obesity issue has reached a hefty $147 billion dollars a year.  The director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Dr. Thomas Frieden, noted that not only did every state fail to reach their target, but that nationwide “obesity rates have doubled in adults and tripled in children” over the past few decades.

Fearsome numbers to say the least, and they draw a bright red line from your company to corporate health promotion.  Why?  Increased national obesity means increased death and illness from related diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. Any company that offers health insurance as a health benefit is directly affected by that $147 billion price tag.

There are numerous benefits of corporate wellness, including providing on-site foot soldiers in the war against obesity that know how to produce sophisticated, effective programs, results, and education.  Workplace wellness boosts employee morale, reduces stress and directly influences your company’s retention and talent pool.

It’s a war you need to win.  Arm your company accordingly.

According to the Mayo Clinic, starting a fitness program may be one of the best things an individual can do for their health. 

The latest Surgeon General’s report supports this as well.  In case you’ve lived in a cave for the past few years, you’ve already heard that regular physical activity reduces the danger of succumbing to heart disease, the leading cause of death in our country.  And for you CFO's out there, an active fitness participant can cost your organization up to $1,250 less in health care costs per year according to a 2008 study in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease. Wellness can also reverse the effects of hypertension, diabetes, and certain cancers, as well as reduce hospital admission rates significantly for these same conditions. Numerous studies also confirm that exercise can not only prolong your employees’ lives, but can also stave off depression, anxiety, and other emotional issues. 

What might not be as obvious as the fact that exercise is good for you and your employees is that like all things, exercise should be done in moderation.  Nothing breeds success like success, and for those who need exercise the most this means starting out with a low to moderate level of physical activity. Walking is a great example of a level of activity that for most employees is a safe and simple platform for better health.

Whatever program for physical activity your company offers in their wellness palate, it should be based on both common sense and solid science.  A moderate exercise program is one that your employees will be able to enjoy and stay engaged in for a long healthy lifetime.   

Smart business people make decisions for their companies that are based on numbers and facts, not fads.  A Duke University Health and Safety Surveillance study available in The Archives of Internal Medicine (2007;167:766-773) draws a line directly from a worker’s body mass index to the number of worker’s compensation claims they would file and how many days of work they would miss.  The higher the BMI (weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) the more lost workdays.  Workers that maintained a recommended BMI averaged about 14 lost workdays a year per 100 FTEs; workers classified as obese averaged 184 lost workdays per 100 FTEs for the same period.

As of this writing, most Americans receive health insurance from their workplace, which makes this information significant to you, the employer.  Your obese workers cost you over 21% more in health care costs than your normal weight workers.  Additionally, keep in mind that this study did not include issues such as absenteeism or presenteeism, although both certainly influence your bottom line.

A healthy body mass index is not a lifestyle choice any longer.  Your obese employees cost your company money.  That’s a fact.  Now, what are you going to do about it?  You’ve made the moves to make your workplace safer and greener, now implement the wellness programs you need to make your company leaner.