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"The Health and Cost Consequences of Obesity among the Future Elderly"
A recent report details the expensive implications of obesity on society. The study, published in Health Affairs, found that while obese seventy-year olds live just as long as their normal weight counterparts, their quality of life is diminished and they spend $39,000 more on healthcare. The study shows that obese elderly suffer from higher rates of diabetes, hypertension and heart disease and can expect to face 2.8 additional years of impaired activity related to daily living - with two of the years involving three or more of these limitations, e.g. bathing dressing, eating, getting into and out of a chair, walking and using the toilet.
An obese person will cost Medicare approximately 34 percent more than someone of healthy weight. In fact, obesity-related illnesses burden the Medicare system more profoundly than other preventable illnesses, including those related to smoking. One reason may be that the associated costs of obesity-related illnesses are not offset by reduced life expectancies.
America has witnessed a rapid growth in obesity rates recently - across all sectors of society - raising obesity to a major public health concern. The progress made in food production and processing coupled with an increasingly sedentary lifestyle, are all contributing to this epidemic.
Complete article can be found at: Lakdawalla, Darius N., Dana P. Goldman, and Baoping Shang. "The Health And Cost Consequences Of Obesity Among The Future Elderly." Health Affairs (2005): 30-41.
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Healthy Arkansas
 Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee launched Healthy Arkansas in May 2004, after successfully losing 110 pounds himself and realizing how unhealthy Arkansas was compared to other states. At the time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ranked Arkansas first among the 50 states in stroke mortality, sixth in deaths due to lung cancer and eighth in mortality due to heart disease. "After years of watching so much time and energy spent on health programs that have not worked, I felt it was time to try some different approaches," said Governor Huckabee. The Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services and the Governor's office committed to provide Arkansas with helpful information on staying active, eating healthy and quitting smoking. Governor Huckabee laid out a framework for a healthier Arkansas to help the nearly 8 percent of Arkansans with diabetes, the 22 percent with obesity and the 26 percent with smoking addictions improve their current lifestyles. He directed the state Department of Health to increase exercise, decrease tobacco use and decrease obesity rates among children and adults by 2007.
Huckabee has taken his health policy agenda to the national level. He is active in Leading by Example, Partnership for Prevention's initiative through which CEOs and governors make the business case for prevention and health promotion to their peers. And as chairman of the National Governors Association, Huckabee has made Healthy America, a national version of his state's prevention-oriented health policy agenda, NGA's centerpiece initiative.
The Healthy Arkansas initiative targets Arkansas' 50,000 state employees, Medicaid recipients and other Arkansans. The initiative creates incentives and offers information to enable residents of one of the unhealthiest states in the country to become one of the healthiest.
Arkansas gained baseline data on the general health of its younger population by measuring the Body Mass Index of every school child in the state. Additionally, Healthy Arkansas offers health insurance plan price reductions to state employees who take an online health risk assessment and expands smoking cessation benefit payments to Medicaid recipients and state employees.
Governor Huckabee is particularly concerned with health habits among Arkansas' Medicaid recipients - Medicaid costs almost three billion dollars annually and is growing at an annual rate of about 9 percent. In 2004 he implemented the Arkansas Diabetes Disease Management Program to control diabetes among Medicaid recipients. "We must find ways to help people reduce the complications that result from diabetes," said Governor Huckabee. "At the same time, we must help states control the escalating costs caused by the diabetes epidemic."
This program is a model for health care systems nationwide as a way to better manage costs associated with diabetes, while improving health care. It has proven that diabetes self-management and nutrition education programs are cost-effective and beneficial to both patients and the state.
Healthy Arkansas plans to extensively evaluate and make publicly available data of the health and well-being of Arkansas in 2007. Making baseline data available to the public sector is critical to tracking the ongoing effectiveness of this groundbreaking program.
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Health & Human Capital Management Congress
Worksite health was center stage at this year's Health & Human Capital Management Congress in Washington D.C. Michael Critelli, Chairman and CEO of Pitney Bowes, and George DeVries, Chairman, President and CEO of American Specialty Health, shared their thoughts on strategic reasons for companies to invest in worksite health with over 300 attendees at the January event. Partnership for Prevention President John Clymer led this keynote panel discussion on its flagship program - Leading by Example, a CEO-to-CEO initiative to promote business involvement in health promotion and disease prevention.
From small changes such as meetings where water is served instead of soft drinks to large scale efforts like on-site health clinics, both Critelli and DeVries have distinguished themselves as wellness pioneers for their innovative programs focused on employee health. The audience - composed of HR program managers and members of the C-suite - peppered the panel with questions, many targeted on how to raise wellness and prevention in the eyes of their own CEOs. DeVries noted that the key is to make CEOs understand that healthier employees equate to a healthier bottom line. Critelli advised attendees not to become bogged down in the "numbers game" and to trust that CEOs will make the right decision if presented with a well thought-out case that just makes good business sense.
Critelli stressed the need for a paradigm shift in CEOs' thought processes - from viewing health care as a cost that must be minimized to viewing healthy employees as an asset to be maximized. Pitney Bowes is one of the pioneers in worksite health with its Health Care University program which assists its 45,000-plus employees in maintaining and improving their health status. Critelli believes there is no health care cost upon which businesses cannot make a positive improvement.
American Specialty Health has incorporated worksite health deep into its culture, as well. From vending machines stocked with only healthy snacks to running and walking clubs that meet at lunchtime, DeVries said it is imperative for corporate leadership to make healthy behaviors the social norm.
To order a copy of the Leading by Example report or to obtain additional information on the initiative, contact LBE@prevent.org or visit our Web site at www.prevent.org.
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