During June, which is National Employee Wellness Month, we should pay attention to companies like the grocery titan Safeway. The company slashed its health care costs by double digits since 2005 using programs that reward employees who maintain healthy lifestyles in four key areas — blood pressure, tobacco usage, weight, and cholesterol levels.
Motorola has enjoyed similar savings thanks to its wellness initiatives. The tech giant saved $3.93 for every dollar it spent on wellness.
With 70 percent of health care costs directly related to behavior, it’s no surprise, then, that 60 percent of employers in a recent study said they are likely to create or expand their wellness programs.
According to the Milken Institute, addressing risk factors like unhealthy behavior could result in 40 million fewer cases of chronic illness and reduce health care spending by $1.1 trillion by 2023.
(READ more from the Louisville Courier-Journal)