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Lifestyle Intervention Programs for Employee Health
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The cost of health care for our workforce is now pricing America out of world markets and accelerating the slide in our economic prowess and power. Detroit has joined the ranks of our once-upon-a-time-great cities facing massive unemployment as America’s automobile industry falls behind. Toyota overtook GM as the top global seller last year. All we have to do is take a look at any parking lot in America to see why. Even Americans buy more foreign models than our own, and for one simple reason—we get more product for our money.
The biggest ticket item in the manufacturing cost for an American-made automobile is not the sophisticated satellite-linked computer system nor the fuel-efficiency engineering. No, it is the cost of
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health care for the autoworkers that build that car. "High health care costs are at the heart of Detroit’s
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problems. GM, Ford and Chrysler are pushing hard for an overhaul, having long argued that the nearly $100 billion that union contracts require them to pay out for active workers, retirees and their families’ health care add some $1,500 to the cost of building each car."
(Roland Jones, Assoc. Ed., MSNBC, Sep 24, 2007)
The soaring cost for health care is not impacting only the auto industry—it is affecting every industry in the country. About 15% of the entire GDP goes to pay for health care, and the number continues to grow. (see graph in left sidebar) The Dow Jones' growth rate has declined while health care costs have almost doubled in the last decade alone. (see chart in sidebar below)
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Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. Cancer is a close second, with stroke and diabetes not far behind. Yet these are merely the proximal causes of death—this is what the patient died of, but not what actually killed the patient. The leading ultimate causes of death are tobacco, poor diet and inactivity. The CDC estimates these three lifestyle factors cause close to half of all deaths in America, and the numbers are rising. In the midst of a medical technology explosion, we are facing the very real prospect that this may be the first gen- eration in over 200 years to have a shorter lifespan than their parents. (Olshansky SJ, et al. A potential decline in life expectancy in the United States in the 21st century. NEJM 2005 Mar 17;352:1138-45.)
The Coronary Health Improvement Project is changing this trend. Research has shown that, while poor lifestyle choices cause disease and increase health care costs, it is never too late to reverse those effects by making the proper lifestyle changes. This proven, award-winning lifestyle intervention program has been carefully developed to attack, not the symptoms of ill health, but the causes.
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