Wellness Study Puts Price Tag on Unhealthy Behavior

Everyone knows unhealthy behaviors can be costly. Now some of those costs have been calculated into dollars.

The Thomson Reuters Workforce Wellness Index estimates that employers spend an average of $670 annually per employee on medical care and pharmacy around six behavioral risk factors, with the top cost drivers identified as:

• Obesity /body mass index ($400)
• High blood sugar ($150)
• Tobacco use ($100)

The remaining costs in the index were attributed to blood pressure, cholesterol, and alcohol use. Thomson Reuters tracked the behaviors from 2005-2009 using data from employer-sponsored health insurance plans. In 2009, about 14% of direct healthcare costs for the employed, privately insured population were associated with these six behavioral risk factors, the index showed.

Unfortunately, the index shows that the nation's workforce is not trending toward better health. Using a befuddling methodology that defies an easy explanation, Thomson Reuters said it fashioned an index where a score of 100 represents the "ideal state where there are no behavioral risk factors present in the population and no healthcare costs attributed to health risks." From 2005 to 2009, the index declined 2% from 86.4 to 84.4. Of course, the decline in overall health means an increase in health insurance costs for employers.

Despite the glum news, Raymond Fabius, MD, and CMO at Thomson Reuters, tells HealthLeaders Media he's "excited by the results."

"It actually shows that, for starters, there is a dollar cost related to unhealthy behaviors," Fabius says. "So this gives the HR directors some tangible figures to justify the investment of resources to reduce unhealthy behaviors in their workforce."

Fabius says he's also encouraged because the approximately 1.5 million employees at companies taking part in Thomson Reuters' MarketScan wellness promotion program are seeing improved health behaviors.

Using tools like biometric screenings, health assessments, and wellness coaches, Fabius says, employers can and are slowing healthcare cost increases. "So, the real message to employers and HR directors is that you can buck the national trend. You can actually make your workforce healthier over time through the use of appropriate resources and through the use of data tracking," Fabius says.

Remember, the $670 per employee in additional costs measures only medical treatment and pharmaceuticals. It does not include the costs of sick days and "presenteeism," where employees show up for work but are less productive owing to health issues. Factor that in, Fabius says, and the costs could be considerably higher.

Fabius says he's encouraged that many companies are incentivizing employees with richer healthcare benefits if they improve their health metrics. "There are some companies out there now that have basic, better, and best health plan and you can earn your way to the best health plan by completing a health risk appraisal, by doing biometric screenings, by working with health coaches, or working with care managers for chronic illnesses," he says. "Those are four good steps to move a company in a direction of building a culture of health."

It's not enough, however. "The idea is not just to make people aware of their health risks or chronic conditions but to give them resources to either reduce those risks or manage their chronic condition," Fabius says.

That process is expected to improve as data collection on healthcare behaviors improves. Fabius says he's gathering data that will identify future trends in healthcare behavior that will allow companies to plan ahead. "This allows HR directors to attend to issues upstream, and if you can prevent or reduce the unhealthy behaviors we know you can either prevent or delay the onset of chronic illness," he says.

If you're willing to look past the sales pitch from Thomson Reuters, Fabius makes a good point. With every new study, the data supports the common sense idea that wellness programs save money. In that respect, these are exciting times for HR, which will play a key role in devising wellness programs, and convincing everyone from the board room to the loading dock that it is money well spent.