America’s corporate healthcare costs are spiraling out of control.
It’s no secret: healthcare costs are exploding. Cutting benefits or shifting more of the cost burden to your employees may “band-aid” the problem for now. But experts say that healthcare has – or soon will – become your greatest cost after employee wages.
That’s why you need to consider the Health-lete™ program – and consider it now.
The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that companies average $7,000 per employee each year in healthcare benefits. And company-funded family coverage is now averaging over $10,000 per year. This expense will be even higher next year.
Let’s face it: during these times of spiraling medical costs, your company doesn't need a strategy to delay rising costs. Your company needs a way to control employee-related costs over the long-term.
Finding a way to reduce the number of employee work days lost to illness and doctor’s visits – and at the same time, reduce the number of claims on your employee healthcare program – would be, well, just what the doctor ordered!
Sick care benefits – or health care benefits?
Corporate America is devoting much of its overhead to treating the symptoms of an increasingly unhealthy workforce rather than addressing the causes. Take a look at these startling facts:
Health insurance premiums have skyrocketed since 2000, growing at 59% according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. And in many cases, these costs are being paid for both current and retired employees.
As science develops more effective, but
expensive ways to keep us all living longer; we’re all finding ways to become less healthy at an earlier age. Fact: while more people quit smoking every day, increased eating and a lack of exercise are quickly wiping out the improvements in health gained by not smoking.
Obesity is rampant. Health department statistics show that the heavier we get as a population, the more we suffer a higher-than-normal rate of hypertension, Type 2 Diabetes, high lipids, cardiovascular disease, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, strokes, heart attacks, respiratory disease and even some types of cancer.
Annual cost of lost productivity due to obesity:
Workdays lost: $39.3 million
Physician office visits: $62.7 million
Restricted activity days: $29.9 million
Bed-related days: $89.5 million
78% of Americans are not meeting basic activity level recommendations. 25% of Americans are completely sedentary. As a result, there has been a 76% increase in Type 2 Diabetes in adults 30-40 years of age since 1990.
Compared to 1971, U.S. women now
consume an additional 335 calories per day, and men take in an added 168 calories per day. At the same time, advances in technology mean less exertion, and more indoor entertainment options have brought more sedentary behavior.
The costs of treating obesity-related diseases have exceeded $800 billion a year.
Many recent CEO surveys rank workforce healthcare issues as their number one concern.
* Statistics from National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and MyWebMD.com
