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 Health
care costs continue to increase annually causing significant
impact to corporate financial planning and margins. Solutions
are needed to control health risks which are affecting those
increases, such as corporate health and wellness programs
which includes executive health and employee
wellness.
Health Plan Premiums increased 8.6% in 2006
with anticipated increases in
2007 running at 11.6% (United Benefit Advisors L.L.C. September
2006). This survey found that the average annual health plan
cost the employer $4,592 per year and the employee $2,031
annually. At the current rate, this will increase by another
$770 per employee in 2007. As these numbers increase, many
businesses are beginning to see the benefit of and have implemented
employee wellness programs.
At least 50% to 70% of all disease is preventable.
Corporate health care budgets frequently dedicate only a small
fraction to corporate health and wellness, health assessment,
or prevention. These are all components of the executive group
health service and the employee health and wellness programs.
Without a proper physical
exam and health assessment those dollars that are spent
are not optimized for the health of the intended population.
Half of a company’s profit can be consumed by medical
costs. Increases in medical expenditures in an otherwise healthy
working population are associated with a high amount of health
risks. A change in health risks and improvement of executive
health has shown, in many different surveys, to reduce those
costs. Corporate wellness programs, which allow for early
assessment and detection, result in a 4:1 R.O.I. as opposed
to treating unrecognized conditions at a later date.
Corporate wellness program benefits
include, but are not limited to:
- Decreased Absenteeism
- Decreased Presenteeism
- Increased Productivity (A productivity increase
of just 1% equals at least a $150-$200 cost savings for
most employers.)
- Improved Executive Health Status and Employee
Wellness
- Decreased Health Care Costs
- Improved Morale and Personal Satisfaction
- Improved Job Satisfaction and Appreciation
for the Employer
- Decreased Workers Compensation claims
- Decreased Disability Claims
People who have three or more health risk factors,
including but not limited to smoking,
obesity,
hypertension,
high
cholesterol, and diabetes,
had claims costs that were twice that of people who had no
health risk factors at all. Those people who are healthy but
have one or more health risks form the majority of an employer’s
beneficiaries. They can be involved in executive health promotion
activities, which increasingly include services online and
begin with assessing that individual’s health risks.
“Developing and implementing policies and
preventive interventions that effectively address these determinants
of health can reduce the burden of illness, enhance quality
of life, and increase longevity. Individual biology and behaviors
influence health through their interaction with each other
and with the individual’s social and physical environments.
In addition, policies and interventions can improve health
by targeting factors related to individuals and their environments,
including access to quality health care.” (Healthy
People 2010: Understanding and Improving Health)
By establishing an executive health program
that includes a comprehensive health assessment and ongoing
corporate wellness programming, businesses have an executive
health resource that will enable them to employ healthier,
happier employees and experience less turn-over in the corporation.
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