Texas Coalition for Worksite Wellness

TAB President Bill Hammond called on lawmakers to emphasize the value of prevention and wellness in the state workplace and as an effective means to manage rising health care costs.

“Employers, including the State of Texas, should embrace prevention and wellness,” Hammond said. “Health risk assessments and incentives to encourage employee participation in health prevention programs like smoking cessation, weight loss and heart disease prevention are excellent tools to improve workers’ health and productivity while reducing an employer’s health care expenses.”

TAB, as a member of the Texas Coalition for Worksite Wellness, is working to raise awareness among public and private sector employers of the need to invest in prevention and wellness as an effective way to increase productivity, reduce absenteeism and decrease health care costs.

“We can all agree that disease is expensive,” Hammond said. “It’s not only the direct medical costs for treating diabetes, heart disease and smoking-related illnesses, the indirect costs through absenteeism and lost productivity are straining Texas businesses.”

Hammond cited data from the Centers for Disease Control and Texas Department of State Health Services that shows smoking-related diseases cost Texas businesses and government more than $4.5 billion in direct medical costs and $5.5 billion in lost productivity each year. The prevalence of diabetes and obesity in Texas also places an increased demand on health care dollars.

Texas companies from Bell Helicopter to Sabre Holdings and Dell Computer are seeing their investments in workplace health pay off. Hammond says it’s now time for the state to step up to the plate.

“The State of Texas—as a major employer—has a real opportunity with Rep. Delisi’s wellness legislation to lead by example and fully embrace and promote prevention and wellness in the state workforce. It’s a worthwhile investment,” said Hammond.

TAB recently launched its own wellness program for employees. The program offers incentives and reimbursement for weight management, physical activity and smoking cessation programs. TAB launched an employee wellness challenge on March 1 that allows employees to earn extra vacation or leave time for meeting or completing at least six out of eight wellness criteria, including no tobacco use in last six months, participation in fitness programs a minimum of twice a week and blood pressure monitoring.

Together, the Texas Coalition for Worksite Wellness, Texas Business Group on Health and Texas Association of Business are hosting a series of workshops this spring to equip employers with the tools and resources they need to put prevention and wellness policy and innovation into practice. Ounce of Prevention Workshops will be held March 30 in Houston, April 20 in San Antonio and April 24 in Dallas.

About the Texas Association of Business
Founded in 1922, the Texas Association of Business is a broad-based, bipartisan organization representing more than 140,000 small and large Texas employers and 200 local chambers of commerce.

About the Texas Coalition for Worksite Wellness
The Texas Coalition for Worksite Wellness is a program of the Texas Business Group on Health (TBGH), one of the state’s leading voices on health care and business issues. TBGH and its coalition members are dedicated to finding positive, innovative solutions to the challenges posed by our current health care system. By emphasizing prevention, wellness and disease management in our workplaces and health benefit systems, we can improve Texans’ health, prevent costly disease and lower health care costs. Online at www.txworksitewellness.org.