Corporate Health and Wellness is now one of the fastest growing industry segments within US healthcare. It is amazing how much press and attention it is getting. Even the Wall Street Journal now has a weekly section dedicated to health and wellness. Every large, middle size and small health insurance company in the country had implemented some form of wellness programs for employers, their employees and dependents.
America is under attack, and we are fighting a war. The war is against being unhealthy and unwell. Up to this point Americans have been losing this war, as we as a people become even more unhealthy and unwell as each year goes on and healthcare costs and premiums continue to skyrocket to the point where many Americans can no longer afford to pay for health insurance and many employers won't be able to continue to contribute to health insurance premiums for employees.
An example of this losing war are recently released reports where the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found adult obesity rates rose in 23 of the 50 states, and fell in none of those states. In 30 states child obesity is at or above 30%! We are at a crisis point, but no one is talking about it or addressing it. Everyone knows that obesity relates to chronic disease and has a direct correlation to rising healthcare costs and it is linked to diabetes and heart disease. Childhood obesity rates in the US have more than tripled since 1980. Also, the baby boomer generation has a higher rate of obesity than compared to previous generations. Some states are worse than others for adult obesity. Mississippi is the worst state with adult obesity rate of 32.5% with Alabama, West Virginia and Tennessee having adult obesity rates in excess in 30%, while Colorado has adult obesity rates below 20%.
But now, things are changing. Everyone realizes that we are losing the battle and things have to change. And so, the first real shot in the war has been fired, as the US launches it's first attack this problem in the workplace and through employers. The US government has set a target of cutting obesity rates in all 50 states to 15% by next year. I personally don't believe it will happen that fast, but it will start to happen.
Congress and the Obama administration have come out in full support of Corporate Wellness and health and wellness programs. There are discussion ongoing in congress on how to support Corporate Wellness programs and Obama is trying to pass legislation to give tax credits to employers who implement corporate wellness programs. I am a firm believer that either this year in 2009 or by 2010 there will be legislation passed providing advantages to employers who implement corporate wellness programs. When this happens, the Corporate Wellness industry will explode and we will see this become the fastest trend in healthcare and the industry grow over 1000% overnight. Corporate Wellness is really one of the only weapons that can be sued to effectively fight the healthcare crisis, and is the only solution to bring down healthcare costs.
As corporate wellness emerges the most important thing is getting the industry to focus more on evidence based wellness and corporate wellness programs that work. There are hundreds of theoretical programs out there and some that simply don't pass muster. What is even more important is focusing on the education and implementation of these programs and getting the "buy-in" of employees and their dependents. Anyone can implement a corporate wellness program, but the most difficult part is getting the employees and plan members to actually "engage" in the programs, and utilize the benefits and become healthier. Not only does this require education of the employees and plan members, but the education of the employer on how to properly implement a corporate wellness programs and what are the best corporate wellness programs to utilize. Many corporate wellness programs fail because employers don't implement them right or choose the wrong programs.
Comments
Post a Comment