NEHI Advocates Before Massachusetts Legislature for Expanded Adoption of Worksite Wellness Programs

December 17, 2008

Testifies before Joint Committee on Public Health

on effectiveness of employee programs in reducing chronic disease

BOSTON, MA – The New England Healthcare Institute (NEHI), a nonprofit health policy organization dedicated to transforming health care for the benefit of patients and their families, today told the Massachusetts Legislature that preventable chronic disease represents a serious threat to both public health and economic competitiveness – and that employer wellness programs can offer a significant solution.

In testimony before the Joint Committee on Public Health, NEHI Executive Director Valerie Fleishman said that while Massachusetts is a global leader in health care, it is just as vulnerable as other states to preventable chronic diseases such as diabetes. In the past decade alone, self-reported diabetes cases have increased by more than 40 percent in Massachusetts. Fleishman said these increases harm the state’s economy as well as the health of its population, citing a Milken Institute study which shows that the total financial impact of these diseases will reach $95.4 billion by 2023.

“The financial impact of chronic disease represents a drag not only on our health care spending, consuming dollars that could be redirected to improving our overall quality of care, but also on our economic growth overall,” said Fleishman. “In this moment of fiscal challenges both within our state and across the nation, the twin impacts of chronic disease are particularly concerning and provide another incentive for action.”

According to Fleishman, Massachusetts companies have a big stake in addressing the “rising tide of preventable chronic disease” because much of the resulting economic loss is seen in diminished productivity among chronically ill employees. Adding to the high stakes is the fact that Massachusetts employers are more likely than their counterparts to offer employee health benefits; approximately 78 percent of Massachusetts employees receive health benefits through their employer.

Fleishman described a “new breed of employee health management programs” in which several Massachusetts companies – including EMC, AstraZeneca and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts – have invested to address this growing problem. The programs include a range of services targeted at specific employee populations, including disease screening, worksite fitness centers, and financial incentives for employee participation. She said that there is increasing evidence of these programs’ effectiveness, with several companies demonstrating up to a $4 return for every $1 invested. The savings come in the form of avoided health care costs, reduced benefit and disability premiums, and improved morale and retention.

Fleishman said that despite evidence of the programs’ effectiveness, barriers must be removed before they would be more fully adopted, particularly among small- and mid-sized employers.

“NEHI believes that the time is ripe for all stakeholders – employers, policymakers and health plans – to come together and examine how best to eliminate these barriers, create incentives and increase the adoption of effective employee wellness programs,” said Fleishman.

She cited four strategies which could help foster adoption of worksite wellness initiatives:

·        Creating opportunities for employer education, sharing information among Massachusetts companies about the linkages between health, health 
   care and productivity and about employer health management best practices;

·        Consideration of new policy actions, such as tax incentives for eligible employers, to help pave the way for companies to invest in employee
   health; 

·        Leveraging the state’s health insurance reform law, Chapter 58 of 2006, to encourage the inclusion of wellness programs as covered benefits; and

·        Fostering collaboration among employers and health plans to promote wellness programs to employers who face the highest barriers, particularly
   small and mid-sized employers. 

“Massachusetts’ companies have a unique opportunity to address this growing problem – and to improve the health of their employees and their own individual competitiveness – by offering effective employee health management programs,” said Fleishman. “The time is now to create a healthier and more productive Massachusetts – our economic prosperity depends on it."

Click below to view the full testimony.

###

About NEHI
The New England Healthcare Institute is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming health care for the benefit of patients and their families. In partnership with members from all across the health care system, NEHI conducts evidence-based research and stimulates policy change to improve the quality and the value of health care. Together with this unparalleled network of committed health care leaders, NEHI brings an objective, collaborative and fresh voice to health policy. For more information, visit www.nehi.net.

Download Attachment: nehi_testimony__employer_wellness_programs__12.17.08_final.pdf