Conference Presentation, Panel
Toward a Healthier Workplace: The Business Case for Public Health
- By 2030, half of the adult population is estimated to have obesity, driving an industry focus on the 74% of healthcare expenses attributed to personal behaviors.
- At Safeway, per capita healthcare costs dropped 9% annually in 2014 and 2015, with 70% of participants maintaining a BMI under 30 after reducing it from over 30, while 70% of spouses enrolled in the voluntary outcome-based plan.
- Premium rewards for Safeway's wellness plan were projected to rise from an initial $500 range to $2,000, and a cancer concierge service was expected to result in every store having an employee who credits the plan with saving a life within five years.
- Heritage Medical Systems aims to manage costs through deep community interventions, while Bird Health plans to serve the top 10% of members driving 75% of costs via a "High Touch. I care." service.
- Herbalife intends to measure wellness outcomes like BMI and smoking cessation slowly over a long-term horizon, leveraging its 4 million independent contractors as public health advocates for small community groups.
- The speaker anticipates a "cost cliff" in the short term before wellness program costs fall, as the industry shifts toward population-based payment models and free-market approaches that could cut costs by 50% over a 10-year period.
- Financial incentives in the current system are criticized for prioritizing annual returns over investments that require five to ten years to yield results, potentially leading to blunt government intervention by 2035 if strategies do not evolve.
- Predictions include the emergence of turnkey insurance products for small businesses, the use of technology like IBM Watson to navigate complex Medicare enrollment, and mass personalization of actionable health information.
- Concerns remain regarding the lack of consensus on evidence for workplace wellness efficacy, the potential philosophical conflict of coercive premiums, and the risk of revenue loss if non-billable interventions fail to meet accountability benchmarks.
- A shift toward public health principles is expected to necessitate new financing models due to workforce limitations, while an ecosystem approach including 100% coverage for genetic testing is viewed as essential for building a culture of health.