One of the most significant risks facing business today might surprise you. It’s poor health among employees. The real trouble is it’s getting worse, much worse.
Poor health impacts many facets of business, including productivity, absenteeism, morale, workers’ compensation costs and health care costs.
Think about it from a personal standpoint. We’ve all had days or times when we didn’t feel our best. Whether we were sick, didn’t sleep well or had a more significant health condition, I’m sure you’d agree, we didn’t perform very well. Our productivity suffered, we were more susceptible to accidents, and we may have incurred additional health care costs.
Businesspeople tend to overthink the impact of poor health and, of course, want statistics and the return on investment of doing something about it. Let’s look at two health conditions – obesity and diabetes. These conditions are largely preventable.
According to the American Heart and Diabetes associations, obesity is becoming an epidemic in our country. Among Americans ages 20 and older, 70 percent are overweight and more than 30 percent are obese. If current trends continue, total health care costs attributable to obesity could reach $900 billion by 2030, with 42 percent of people obese and the problem accounting for 16 percent to 18 percent of U.S. health expenditures.
Currently 8 percent of our population is diabetic with another 25 percent prediabetic. Diabetics are estimated to have health care expenditures 2.3 times higher than the healthy population and nearly half of all Americans are projected to be diabetic or prediabetic in the next 10 years, according to an analysis conducted by UnitedHealth Group’s Center for Health Reform and Modernization.
We are spiraling toward an epidemic issue for business – massive losses in productivity and exploding health care costs, most of which could be reduced or eliminated.
To add fuel to the fire, our health care system needs reform. The system currently focuses on acute care and disease treatment and it pays for production versus focusing on long-term health and paying for results. Although we have the best medical treatments and technology, the U.S. ranks 50th in life expectancy and spends nearly twice as much on health care as many other countries. This approach, coupled with our declining health, is about to reach a tipping point, or maybe more of a cliff.
So what can be done? In my opinion, it all starts with leadership – personal leadership, corporate leadership and, yes, political leadership.
A few companies have seen significant turnarounds in their productivity, health care costs and overall wellbeing of the employees, such as national company Safeway Supermarkets and locally based Ozarks Technical Community College. Safeway kept health care costs flat during a four-year period while other company’s costs increased 38 percent over the same time. OTC implemented an on-site clinic with an extensive preventative focus, keeping costs nearly flat during the past three years.
We could go over the details, including corporate policies and procedures, health risk assessment physicals, wellness programs, on-site clinics and measurements, but it all started with a leader who said we are going to make a difference in people’s health and in their lives.
Richard Ollis is president and CEO of Springfield-based Ollis and Co., specializing in risk, employee benefits and insurance. He serves on the national board of the Wellness Council of America and can be reached at richard.ollis@ollisco.com.
