“The members of our coalition want to make sure Texas business owners understand the value, both in real dollars and human capital, that an investment in preventive care benefits and worksite wellness programs can offer,” said Marianne Fazen, president and CEO of the Texas Business Group on Health, the coalition’s sponsoring organization.
The Texas Coalition for Worksite Wellness brings together prominent Texas health care associations, providers and businesses, including the Texas Association of Business, Texas Medical Association, Texas Hospital, Association American Heart Association, United Ways of Texas, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, CIGNA Healthcare, Sabre Holdings, Texas Instruments, Pfizer and others. A complete list is available at www.TxWorksiteWellness.org.
“By focusing our health care system on preventing illness, managing chronic conditions and encouraging healthy lifestyles instead of only focusing on treating people once they are already sick, we could keep people healthier and reduce health care costs,” said Fazen.
According to the Texas Association of Business (TAB), Texas businesses spent more than $39 billion on health care in 2000, a significant increase from previous years.
“With the cost of health care insurance growing at an alarming rate, Texas businesses and their employees are suffering,” said Mike Haefner, senior vice president of human resources for Sabre Holdings, Inc. and a TCWW member. “Disease prevention and wellness programs offer employers, as well as employees, a practical way to manage rising health care costs while increasing productivity and reducing absenteeism. These programs work and employees love them.”
Currently 95 cents of every health care dollar is spent to treat disease rather than invested in health care prevention and wellness. The Partnership for Prevention estimates that every dollar invested in worksite health promotion yields $3.50 to nearly $6.00 in savings through reduced absenteeism, increased productivity and decreased health-care related costs.
Fazen pointed to employers who have already invested in preventive care programs and are reaping the rewards.
- Fort Worth’s Bell Helicopter launched “Well@Bell,” an incentive program that rewards healthy lifestyles and participation in physical activity and nutrition challenges. Over a five year period, employees participating in the program have seen key health risks drop from 83 percent to 30 percent.
- Sabre Holdings launched a program promoting personal health awareness, better stress management, increasing physical activity and encouraging healthy eating. The number of employees with three or four health risk factors dropped 20 percentage points over two years. The wellness program also gets partial credit for reducing medical claims per employee by 3 percent in 2005 versus 2004 according to Haefner.
The first order of business for the new statewide organization is the Texas Coalition for Worksite Wellness CEO Summit on Nov. 15 in Austin. The event will feature Governor Rick Perry and Paul Carrozza, president of RunTex and co-chair of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Physical Fitness, as well presentations by a number of CEOs and health care experts. In 2007, the coalition will host a series of regional “Ounce of Prevention Forums” to equip employers and benefit managers with the tools and resources they need to launch or expand worksite wellness programs.
“Our hope for our coalition and the CEO Summit is to bring best practices to the forefront, encourage discussion and energize Texas CEOs to develop their own innovative wellness agendas that will work for their workforce,” said Fazen.