Content area
Full text
ABSTRACT
Amid soaring health spending, there is growing interest in workplace disease prevention and wellness programs to improve health and lower costs. In a critical meta-analysis of the literature on costs and savings associated with such programs, we found that medical costs fall by about $3.27 for every dollar spent on wellness programs and that absenteeism costs fall by about $2.73 for every dollar spent. Although further exploration of the mechanisms at work and broader applicability of the findings is needed, this return on investment suggests that the wider adoption of such programs could prove beneficial for budgets and productivity as well as health outcomes.
In an environment of soaring health care spending, policymakers, insurers, and employers express growing interest in methods of improving health while lowering costs. Much discussion has taken place about investment in disease prevention and health promotion as a way of achieving better health outcomes at lower costs. President Barack Obama has highlighted prevention as a central component of health reform, as have major congressional reform proposals.1,2 Workplace-based wellness programs, which could affect prevention, have been showcased in these reform proposals, the popular press, and congressional hearings.3,4
This enthusiasm for workplace programs stems in part from the fact that more than 60 percent of Americans get their health insurance coverage through an employment-based plan,5 as well as from the recognition that many employees spend the majority of their waking hours in the workplace- which makes it a natural venue for investments in health. There are several reasons that employers might benefit from investments in employee wellness. First, such programs might lead to reductions in health care costs and thus health insurance premiums. Second, healthier workers might be more productive and miss fewer days of work. These benefits may accrue at least partially to the employer (such as through improved ability to attract workers), even if the primary benefits accrue to the employee.
These factors may motivate the increasing interest in such programs among employers- and especially large employers. In 2006, 19 percent of companies with 500 or more workers reported offering wellness programs, while a 2008 survey of large manufacturing employers reported that 77 percent offered some kind of formal health and wellness program.68 Consistent with the evidence presented below,...