The Impact of Weight Gain or Loss on Health Care Costs for Employees at the Johnson &amp; Johnson Family of Companies

Carls, Ginger Smith; Goetzel, Ron Z.; Henke, Rachel Mosher; Bruno, Jennifer A.; Isaac, Fikry; McHugh, Janice

doi:10.1097/jom.0b013e31820451fd

Cited by 25 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Such inferences are reasonable, however, in light of abundant medical literature and recent worksite studies that have documented cost savings from risk-reduction efforts, as summarized in a recent meta-analysis. 24 A sensible employer action emerging from these data would be to offer routine health risk assessment and biometric screenings to workers, followed by evidence-based health promotion programs aimed at improving population health. Today, unlike the time when the HERO study was published, we are well into the process of amassing evidence on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of worksite health promotion programs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ten Modifiable Health Risk Factors Are Linked To More Than One-Fifth Of Employer-Employee Health Care Spending

et al. 2012

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An underlying premise of the Affordable Care Act provisions that encourage employers to adopt health promotion programs is an association between workers' modifiable health risks and increased health care costs. Employers, consultants, and vendors have cited riskcost estimates developed in the 1990s and wondered whether they still hold true. Examining ten of these common health risk factors in a working population, we found that similar relationships between such risks and total medical costs documented in a widely cited study published in 1998 still hold. Based on our sample of 92,486 employees at seven organizations over an average of three years, $82,072,456, or 22.4 percent, of the $366,373,301 spent annually by the seven employers and their employees in the study was attributed to the ten risk factors studied. This amount was similar to almost a quarter of spending linked to risk factors (24.9 percent) in the 1998 study. High risk for depression remained most strongly associated with increased per capita annual medical spending (48 percent, or $2,184, higher). High blood glucose, high blood pressure, and obesity were strongly related to increased health care costs (31.8 percent, 31.6 percent, and 27.4 percent higher, respectively), as were tobacco use, physical inactivity, and high stress. These findings indicate ongoing opportunities for well-designed and properly targeted employer-sponsored health promotion programs to produce substantial savings. S ection 4303 of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 and section 2705 of the Public Health Service Act of 1944, which was amended by the Affordable Care Act, contain provisions that encourage employers to adopt health promotion and risk reduction programs, also known as employee wellness programs. An underlying premise of these provisions is that modifiable health risks, such as obesity and high blood pressure, are associated with increased health care costs in the employed population. Therefore, employers that undertake risk-reduction programs may save on health care expenditures.The largest employer-based study that supported the association between higher health risks and higher costs used data that are now seventeen years old. Also, both personal health behavior and health care services have changed over time. We therefore revisited this pivotal assumption using more current data. In doing so, we demonstrated that the relationships shown more than a decade ago between employee health risks and subsequent total health care costs still hold today. These enduring rela- tionships continue to indicate the potential to reduce health care spending by putting in place evidence-based health promotion programs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ten Modifiable Health Risk Factors Are Linked To More Than One-Fifth Of Employer-Employee Health Care Spending

et al. 2012

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“…This premise has been confirmed several times. [4][5][6][7][8] Employers have addressed the question of financial impact of wellness programs in two basic ways. The most ambitious approach is to measure the financial savings that result from implementing a program, usually called Return on Investment (ROI) studies.…”

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confidence: 99%

The Portion of Health Care Costs Associated With Lifestyle-Related Modifiable Health Risks Based on a Sample of 223,461 Employees in Seven Industries

O’Donnell

Schultz

Yen³

2015

Journal of Occupational &Amp; Environmental Medicine

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“…17,23–25 By improving the health risk profile of their workers, employers can expect to see medical cost savings and productivity improvements among their workers. 26,27 …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We published one such study examining the experience of Johnson & Johnson employees over 4 years that found changes in some risks produced changes in costs. 40 Nevertheless, there are limited data showing the precise mechanism by which changes in risk produce changes in costs and the time horizon by which those changes are evident.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating the Return on Investment From a Health Risk Management Program Offered to Small Colorado-Based Employers

Goetzel

Tabrizi

Henke

et al. 2014

Journal of Occupational &Amp; Environmental Medicine

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Objective To determine whether changes in health risks for workers in small businesses can produce medical and productivity cost savings. Methods A 1-year pre- and posttest study tracked changes in 10 modifiable health risks for 2458 workers at 121 Colorado businesses that participated in a comprehensive worksite health promotion program. Risk reductions were entered into a return-on-investment (ROI) simulation model. Results Reductions were recorded in 10 risk factors examined, including obesity (−2.0%), poor eating habits (−5.8%), poor physical activity (−6.5%), tobacco use (−1.3%), high alcohol consumption (−1.7%), high stress (−3.5%), depression (−2.3%), high blood pressure (−0.3%), high total cholesterol (−0.9%), and high blood glucose (−0.2%). The ROI model estimated medical and productivity savings of $2.03 for every $1.00 invested. Conclusions Pooled data suggest that small businesses can realize a positive ROI from effective risk reduction programs.

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The Impact of Weight Gain or Loss on Health Care Costs for Employees at the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies

Abstract: Preventing weight gain through effective employee health promotion programs is likely to result in cost savings for employers.

Cited by 25 publications

References 32 publications

Ten Modifiable Health Risk Factors Are Linked To More Than One-Fifth Of Employer-Employee Health Care Spending

Ten Modifiable Health Risk Factors Are Linked To More Than One-Fifth Of Employer-Employee Health Care Spending

The Portion of Health Care Costs Associated With Lifestyle-Related Modifiable Health Risks Based on a Sample of 223,461 Employees in Seven Industries

Estimating the Return on Investment From a Health Risk Management Program Offered to Small Colorado-Based Employers

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