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The Evidence is in . . .

Hundreds of millions of dollars of child health research has been compiled over decades. It all points directly to the need for projects such as "Animal Exercise Fun." 


Social/Financial Benefits                                                                                      

It has been shown that worksite wellness programs can produce savings in health plan costs, sick leave, disability costs and workers’ compensation of more than 25 percent.


According to a 2002 US Department of Health and Human Services report, work sites with physical activity programs have:

  1. • Reduced health care costs by 20-55 percent

  2. • Reduced short term sick leave by 6-32 percent

  3. • Increased productivity by 2-52 percent


Accordingly, family wellness programs, if utilized, will translate into similar benefits. In this case, “What’s good for GM,” or Intel, or Apple, is good for families and society in general.


DO INCENTIVES REALLY WORK?

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hphr/winter-2009/winter09healthincentives.html 
According to several studies, the cost-effectiveness of health promotion programs varies widely. The Wellness Councils of America maintains that the “return on investment,” or ROI, of such programs is $3 or more for every $1 spent.


  2. Workplace Health Promotion Programs Show 16:1 Return on Investment

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/21141.php

Main Category: Public Health

Article Date: 13 Mar 2005 - 3:00 PDT


Health promotion in the workplace can positively affect the bottom line for companies and the waistline for employees, according to Brigham Young University researchers.


Their new study published in the latest issue of the journal "Preventive Medicine" explains that employees who participate in workplace health promotion programs miss fewer workdays than those who choose not to participate, with the decrease in absenteeism translating into a cost savings of nearly $16 for each dollar spent on the program.


"This is just another reason companies should offer and encourage participation in wellness programs," said Steven Aldana, director of the research team and professor of exercise science at BYU.


    1. Statistics for adult populations from United Healthcare Inc.


    3. The following are results of cost savings in adult wellness programs.

    4. Overall Results of Adult Workplace Wellness Programs:

For each one-point improvement in an employee’s health assessment risk, individual claims costs may fall as much as $56 per individual employee.

  1. •Companies save more money by preventing health risks.

  2. •Costs for an employee who moves into a higher risk category of illness or disease increases by $350 per individual/year.


    2. PepsiCo Program:

    3. •For every $1 the company invests, it sees a $1.50 to $2.00 return.


    5. General Motors Program:

    6. •Annual insurance savings of $42 per participant

    7. •ROI estimated $2 to $3 return in the form of increased productivity and reduced absenteeism.


    9. Fieldale Farms Program:

    10. •Saved $378 per employee by lowering absenteeism

    11. •Medical expenses for the program participants decreased by about $225 per employee per year over four year period 


    13. BP America Program:

    14. •ROI $3.00 on every $1.00 invested


    16. Travelers Corporation Program:

    17. •$3.40 return on every $1.00 invested in health promotion

    18. •Saving $7.8M in benefits cost


    20. Steelcase Program:

    21. •High risk employees who improved their habits via the company’s wellness program and became low risk, lowered their medical insurance costs by an average of $618.00/yr.

    22. •If all high-risk employees changed their lifestyles to become low risk, the projected savings could add up to $20M over three years.

    23.     Source: Ozminkowski et al. J Occup Environ Med 2002;44:21-9 and Goetzel et al. J Occup Environ Med 2002;44:417-24


  3. High/Scope Educational Research Foundation

High/Scope's mission is to lift lives through education. We envision a world in which all educational settings use active participatory learning so everyone has a chance to succeed in life and contribute to society.

High/Scope was founded in 1970 by David Weikart, who launched the groundbreaking High/Scope Perry Preschool Study. Initiated in 1962 and lasting over 40 years, the study found that a high quality early childhood program exerts a dramatic impact on the lives of poor children, improving their educational success, increasing their adult earnings, reducing their criminal activity, and returning nearly $13 to taxpayers for every dollar invested in the program. High/Scope's educational model, in which children plan, do, and review their own learning activities, has been validated by longitudinal research studies and has influenced a generation of educators and policy makers. An independent nonprofit research and development organization, High/Scope has helped lead worldwide educational reform through its evaluative research, curriculum development, teacher training, publishing, and communication.


The following is compiled from the

American Institute for Preventive Medicine

30445 Northwestern Hwy.  |  Ste. 350  |  Farmington Hills, MI 48334

248.539.1800  |  fax 248.539.1808  |  www.HealthyLife.com


Presenteeism

Presenteeism is when employees are at work, but due to health concerns, they are not working optimally. People with children at home show higher presenteeism than those without children.


• Annual cost to companies of over $180 billion / year

• The per employee cost is between $22 and $157 annually

• Persistent problem at over 50% of workplaces

• In 2006, 56% of HR executives viewed it as a problem vs. 39% in 2004

Sources: The Center for Work and Health, 2003

Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, April, 2004

CCH, Riverwoods, IL, 2006
Sick but yet at work. An empirical study of sickness presenteeism ...


Emergency Room Visits Annually

The data regarding emergency room visits is even

more compelling. Approximately 55% of all E.R. visits

are unnecessary. At an average cost of $560 per visit,

the unnecessary costs are quite high.


Total Annual E.R. Visits

•  115 million

•  37.8 visits / 100 persons

Source: National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey-2006

Unnecessary Visits

•  55% or 63 million

Source: National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey-2006

Average cost - $560/visit

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2006


The Return on Investment (ROI) for

Worksite Wellness Programs at Various Companies

Northeast Utilities – The company’s Well Aware Program

The Return on Investment was 6:1.


Motorola
The Return on Investment was $3.93:1.

 

Source: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Prevention Makes Common Cents, 2003.


Wisconsin Educational Insurance Group – A medical

self-care program and health education materials produced a Return on Investment of $4.75:1.


Caterpillar – Participants in the Healthy Balance Program who completed the Health Risk Assessment reduced their doctor visits by 17% and hospital days by 28%.

Source: Wellness Councils of America, The Cost Benefit of Worksite Wellness, 2002.


Johnson & Johnson – The results of a 4 year

worksite wellness program involving 18,331 employees

demonstrated an overall savings of $8.5 million annually

due to reduced health care costs.  This amounted to a

savings of $225 per employee per year. 

Source: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, January 2002, 44(1):21-29.


Florida Power & Light – After an employee wellness

program, total health care costs were reduced by 35%,

workers compensation costs were reduced by 38% per

claim, and 82% of employees reported personal health

improvements.

Source: Wellness Councils of America, The Cost Benefit of Worksite Wellness, 2002.


Xerox Corporation – A worksite wellness program

revealed a drop in the frequency of workers’ compensation claims and the average cost per injury. 5.6% of wellness participants filed claims with an average cost of $6,506 per injury.  8.9% of non-wellness participants filed claims with an average cost of $9,482 per injury.

Source: University of Michigan Health Management Research Center, 2001.


Citibank – A comprehensive health management program showed a $4.56:1 Return on Investment in reduced total health care costs. 

Source: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1999, 14(1):5131-43.


Washoe County School District – Wellness program

participants averaged 3 fewer missed workdays than those who did not participate in the program.  The decrease in absenteeism produced a Return on Investment of $15.60:1.

Source: Preventive Medicine, 2000; 40:131-7.


Manufacturing Company – A 6 year wellness program

including 2,596 participants saved $623,040 due to

reductions in disability absence days.  This resulted in a

Return on Investment of $2.30:1.

Source: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2002;

44:776-80.


Large Company – A worksite wellness program compared 13,048 participants who filled out a Health Risk Appraisal with 13,363 non-participants.  Overall, the HRA participants cost an average of $212 less on medical costs than non- participants.

Source: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2003;

45:1196-200.








 

Total U.S. health care spending:  $2.3 trillion
$7,600 per person (1)

Average annual employer health insurance
family: $12,100 (2)    
individual: $4,400
Employer health insurance premiums doubled since 2000.
Workers paid $1,400 more for premiums than in 2000.

U.S. government and private health care spending is predicted to increase by about 6.7 percent a year through 2017 to $4.3 trillion, or 19.5 percent of gross domestic product. (3)

For four straight years, in the Business Roundtable’s annual CEO Economic Outlook Survey, executives cited health care expenditures as the top fiscal pressure on their companies. In 2007, energy costs were tied with health care costs as the most weighty concern. (4)

1. National Coalition on Health Care    
2. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
3. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
4. Business Roundtable

Potential Social/Medical Return On Investment (ROI) for the United States

Healthcare needs and costs impact: quality of life, business productivity, family finances, and government programs for the poor and elderly.


Wellness programs have a proven Return On Investment (ROI). They are especially effective when practiced at a young age. They are standard operating procedure at hundreds of large corporations.


This ROI for “Animal Exercise Fun” is an estimate that includes only two returns in the form of one less trip to the doctor at $50 and avoiding one missed day of work by a parent saving $100. I feel the ripple effect of healthy family lifestyle choices through the economy makes these more than reasonable estimates. I believe the 10 to 1 return is a realistic figure.


  2. 1.National average cost for doctor’s office visit: $60. National average cost for emergency room visit: $383; Source: New England Journal of Medicine

  3. 2.The average American working parent misses nine days of work per year (Carillo, 2004).  As children move through daycare and into elementary school, the number of days missed increases to thirteen.

Over three-quarters of women who have school-age children are employed. Sixty-five percent of mothers with children under the age of six are in the workforce.

Often times the uninsured resort to emergency room visits where they can’t be denied service.


Ensuring Program ROI

  1. • The program distributes one free copy of “Animal Exercise Fun” to families of children between the ages of three and seven through: daycares, preschools, and service organizations.

  2. • The book is designed to encourage physical fitness by making it a fun, play-time activity.

  3. • It can be used in the classroom, care facilities and in the home.

  4. • It will be managed and distributed by NPOs through existing channels.

  5. • It is a comprehensive exercise manual for young children, their parents and teachers.

  6. • There are over four million children in poverty and need.

  7. • This is an ongoing program designed to have followup volumes and fit into existing outreach programs.

  8. • An interactive assessment and additional content will be made available on the animalexercisefun.org website where program satisfaction and use statistics will be gathered and evaluated.

  9. • Health education is integrated into the content and included in parent/teacher guides.

  10. • Active play encodes healthy behavior into the child’s life.

  11. • Considering the positive health related benefits of physical activity, the minimal cost of the program and the high costs of healthcare I feel confident projecting a ROI of 10 to 1.


  13. Factors leading to success.

  14. • Awareness of the issues: obesity, diabetes, heart disease, healthcare costs, issues of poverty, and the need for exercise by all people is obvious to everyone and is well publicized. PR campaign

  15. • Mass distribution is the best way to accomplish our goals for society.

  16. • Comprehensive guides train adult users.

  17. • AEF improves everyone’s attitude towards exercise. It is fun play.

  18. • Behavior changes are encourages as part of the imaginary play. Imaginary play is one of the most enjoyable childhood activities and occurs spontaneously. Movement is incorporated into the child’s day becoming healthy habits.

  19. • Program success is multiplied by the low cost per unit of the program.

  20. • Program utilization will be ensured through followup editions, website incentives, ongoing PR and program development, hopefully on public television.

  21. • Mass distribution through existing channels will reduce program costs.

  22. • Distribution to schools, daycare facilities and directly to teachers to further reinforce the habit.

 

The Cost of an Unhealthy Lifestyle

A major reason for the surge in wellness programs is that employee lifestyle counts for a vast majority of health care claims costs.

• 87.5% of health care claims costs are due to an individual’s lifestyle.

Source: Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne (IPFW) Study, 2006


http://www.workoptionsgroup.com/absenteeism_calculator.html


ABSENTEEISM CALCULATOR

The ripple effect of employee absenteeism on the workplace is felt by co-workers, supervisors and your bottom line. Some contributing factors include:

•Employee's Salary/Wage

•Benefits (typically 30% of the worker's salary)

•Increased Utilization of Benefits (health care, leave)

•Cost of Temporary Replacement Worker

•Supervisor's Time (managing worker & replacement)

•Opportunity Losses (missed sales, service, revenue)

•Impact on Co-Workers and Department (reduced productivity, morale)

•Lost Productivity (missed work, deadlines, meetings)

•Administrative Costs

•Overtime (absent worker or co-worker to complete work assignments)

•Effect of Chronic Absenteeism on Disciplinary Actions and Employee Turnover

•Effect on Employee (quality of work, self-esteem and reputation)

Calculating the costs of absenteeism incorporates many factors, including the employee’s salary/wage, benefits (typically 30% of the worker’s salary), supervisor’s time spent dealing with worker/replacement, and opportunity losses (missed sales, service, revenue).

Determine what absenteeism is costing you by using the MetLife Absenteeism Calculator.

 
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