When sitting on the sidelines, it’s rather hard to earn yourself a penalty. In the corporate wellness arena on the other hand, not playing and sitting on the sidelines could actually result in penalties of a different sort—financial ones.
For the past few years we’ve seen employers take more aggressive approaches to wellness, including offering incentives [...]
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Healthcare costs aside, Illinois businesses may be paying dearly for bad employee habits.
Illinois ranks among the worst states in the nation for binge drinking (47th) and smoking (38th), according to the July 5th issue of Crain’s Chicago Business.
When you take a closer look at the data, which comes from the United Health Foundation’s “America’s Health [...]
Continue reading about Illinois Likes to Binge Drink & Smoke
Yesterday, CBS news reported that Chicago has the worst heroin problem in the U.S.
The report, based on research by Roosevelt University’s Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy, claims that there were 23,000 mentions of heroin in emergency room records in Chicago and its suburbs.
That has a huge impact on employer healthcare costs and productively regardless of [...]
Continue reading about Chicago’s Heroin Problem May Shoot-Up Employer Healthcare Costs
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “tobacco use could kill one billion people during this century.”
That’s more than three times the number of people living in the U.S. today.
It’s an ugly statistic. And a costly one for businesses. Employees that smoke are damaging nearly every part of their bodies.
How are smokers driving up your [...]
Continue reading about Smoking Is Ugly – For Businesses and Employees
Towers Perrin released its latest Health Care Cost Survey today and the news is about as pleasant as a heart attack: U.S. employers will see a 7% increase in medical benefit expenditures in 2010 and the average annual per-employee spend will exceed $10,000.
In short, with business profits down and many employees facing reduced family incomes, [...]
Continue reading about The Latest Skinny on Healthcare Costs: Prepare to Work Your Tail Off
Americans are eating a lot of junk these days. Unfortunately, it’s impacting business as much as beltlines.
To quote the Wall Street Journal’s “The Fat of the Land” column, which points out that 30% of American adults are currently obese, “a fatter and sicker workforce is a drag on economic growth. In effect, we’re eating money.”
Its [...]
Continue reading about Don’t Let Obesity Eat Your Business: Step-Up Wellness to Cut Down Costs
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