Along with monetary concerns in the healthcare industry, obesity has played an active role in decreasing American employee productivity, discipline, focus, energy and even creativity. Corporations who provide benefits to their employees with healthcare take a big hit from obesity-related medical concerns as well.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the current annual impact of poor health costs Americans about $1.8 trillion. This number is a sum of costs concerning obesity-related job absenteeism ($4.3 billion annually) and various forms of medical care among other things, which is almost no surprise given than 80 percent of Americans work in jobs that require little or no physical activity, which increases the possibility of obesity-related medical concerns.
Wellness Initiatives Could Decrease Obesity-Related Health Concerns
All is not lost when it comes to healthcare reform, however. Statistics show for every dollar spent on wellness initiatives, corporations can save as high as $10 in costs amounting to obesity-related medical concerns in the private sector. In fact, medical costs fall by about $3.27 for every dollar spent on wellness programs – great news for the employee.
Perks go to the employer as well, as companies with wellness programs in place have an average 28 percent reduced sick leave and spend 26 percent less on healthcare costs.
Additionally, the money corporations save as a result of implementing wellness programs could be used for improving the quality of the workplace, adding more employee benefits, or even increasing employee wages.
