Workplace Wellness

Corporate wellness programs are attempting to increase their employees’ health, with the long range goal of keeping medical costs down. They offer enticements such as discounted gym memberships and movie tickets for the completion of a personal health assessment. However, as much as companies implement ideas to combat health care, the costs are still continuing to soar, and Americans are not getting any healthier. The increasing age of employees is not helping the situation either.

With the stress mounting, some feel that good health care programs have turned into employee accountability. Employees who do not engage in the healthy recommended behavior are being penalized. Encouragement of exercise has evolved into strict cut-offs for workers, demanding that their vital measurements be up to par. Items such as blood pressure, cholesterol, and weight are measured.

In the long run, the changes should benefit both employees and employers. The nation’s overall health is not a pretty picture, and many would argue that lifestyle changes need to be made. The Milken Institute published a study which stated that, if the health care system was reoriented towards prevention rather than treatment of disease, 40 million cases of cancer, heart disease, and chronic illness could be avoided over the next 15 years. This would cut health care costs by $1.1 trillion dollars. Spending on diabetes and obesity-related illnesses was the cause of 34% of the increase of U.S. medical spending between 1987 and 2004, according to Emory University.

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