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Written by Larry Sobal, CEO, Appleton Cardiology Associates
Most employers seem to be waiting on Obama to apply some type of "fix" to our
health care system. Maybe he'll find the elusive silver bullet, but I think
employers have a more important role to play in this process than the
president.
For all the criticism that our health care "system" is broken and we don't
perform well compared to other industrialized nations, let's not lose sight of a
key fact. In general, the U.S. population chooses to live a less healthy
lifestyle versus most of those countries. Simply put, our diet and exercise
regimens don't stack up, resulting in a wide range of self-inflicted chronic
health issues. Throw in a deeply rooted entitlement mentality, with the
expectation that insurance and the medical system will fix my problem(s), and
it's no surprise that we spend considerably more for poorer results.
I think employers are the key to changing that trend, rather than (or in
addition to) the government.
Lets provide employees with the same type of free-market incentives they face
in many other aspects of their lives. The government has already provided
employers the golden opportunity to do so by virtue of its December 2006 HIPAA
ruling, which allows employers to vary the amount of premium contributions
required from employees as long as its "wellness incentive program" meets
certain regulations.
With this in mind, Appleton Cardiology is now in the second year of our
Health Metrics program that provides considerable rewards to employees who
attain desired health status. Our employee health metric targets, all of which
are obtained as part of clinical testing that occurs in our annual Health Risk
Assessment, are:
LDL cholesterol
Blood glucose
Blood pressure
Body mass index
Absence of nicotine use
We chose these metrics largely based on the infamous HERO study, which
demonstrated that employees with chronic health conditions cost employers
considerably more versus those that don't. Our goal is to help employees (and
spouses) avoid the costs and personal impact of tobacco use, hypertension,
hypercholesterolemia, obesity and diabetes. In our case, employees (and spouses)
who meet these metrics can save as much as $1,500 per year for their
contribution toward our health plan.
Is this the perfect solution for our country's health care challenges? No,
but I'll argue that government reform will have limited impact on our overall
health consumption (i.e. costs) without reducing chronic disease and improving
the health status of the population overall. While it's too early to form a
clear conclusion, our initial results are suggesting that the size and type of
our metric incentives are motivating change.
If you want to learn more this and other progressive ways for employers to
drive change, I encourage you to attend the "Hands-On Healthcare Strategies for
Employers and Their Insured's" event on Feb. 10 sponsored by the Fox Cities
Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Details are available on the chamber's Web
site, www.foxcitieschamber.com or at 920-734-7101.
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