Obesity
Obesity, one of the fastest growing epidemics in America, is the most prevalent health risk among employees. Obese people are at increased risk for several chronic diseases such as congestive heart failure, type 2 diabetes, stroke and hypertension.
Facts:
• The prevalence of overweight and obesity has doubled since 1980.
• Two-thirds (66.3%) of the population is overweight or obese (using Body Mass Index as a measure); 32.3% are obese.
• Obesity has roughly the same association with chronic health conditions as 20 years of aging.
• Greater than 20% of very overweight employees have low morale, almost twice that of employees of healthy weights.
• Overweight and Obesity healthcare claims cost around $92 billion in 2002, 9.1% of all U.S. Medical Care expenditures.
Mental Illness
Often ignored or misdiagnosed, mental illness is one of the most disruptive health topics in organizations. It is unique in that its indirect costs (especially presenteeism) are often higher than its direct health care costs.
Facts:
• Approximately 20% of the U.S. population is affected by mental illness during a given year, with the most common form being depression; yet in 1997, only 23% of Americans diagnosed with depression received treatment.
• In 2001 mental illness and substance abuse treatment cost more than $104 billion, comprising 7.6% of domestic Medical Care spending.
• Around 217 million days of work are lost annually due to productivity decline from mental illness and substance abuse disorders, costing $17 billion each year.
• Depression is one of the most costly workplace health problems, costing the U.S. $43.7 billion annually, including workplace costs for absenteeism and lost productivity.
Smoking
Though smoking rates have decreased slightly in America over the past ten years, smokers still make up 21.1% of the population. For many organizations, limitations on smoking in buildings means a greater loss of productiveness during breaks, adding to the costs of the practice.
Facts:
• The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) puts a $3,391 price tag on each employee who smokes: $1,760 in lost productiveness and $1,623 in excess healthcare expenditures.
• Employees who smoke had about two times more lost production time (LPT) per week than employees who never used tobacco, a cost of $27 billion to organizations.
• An economic assessment found that a Medical Care plan’s annual cost of covering treatment to help people quit smoking ranged from $0.89 to $4.92 per smoker, whereas the annual cost of treating tobacco-related illness ranged from $6 to $33 per smoker.
• The direct and indirect costs of smoking are estimated at $138 million per year.43 Finding Wealth Through Wellness 19 • Quitting smoking could decrease an individual’s Medical Care costs by $960 each year.
• Secondhand smoke costs the U.S. economy roughly $ten billion a year: $5 billion in estimated health care costs associated with secondhand smoke exposure, and another $4.6 billion in lost wages.
• From 1997-2001, tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke resulted in approximately 438,000 premature deaths in America, 5.5 million years of life lost, and 92 billion dollars in productivity losses annually.
• Smokers, on average, miss 6.16 days of work per year due to sickness (including smoking related acute and chronic conditions), while nonsmokers miss 3.86 days of work per year.
• Each smoker who successfully quits lowers the anticipated health care costs associated with heart attack and stroke by an estimated $47 in the first year and $853 during the following seven years.
