Good health dividends

Businesses are constantly looking for ways to reduce costs to help their profitability. One of the proven ways to do that is to take measures that will reduce an employer’s health insurance costs.

To that end, it is surprising that healthy-workplace advocates still have to beat a loud drum to get companies to establish health initiatives for employees.

Locally, the Memphis Business Group on Health has been beating that drum. It recently received a $100,000 grant through the National Business Coalition on Health and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and United Health Foundation that will help the group boost its efforts.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studies find that medical costs drop by about $3.27 and the cost of absenteeism by about $2.73 for each dollar spent on wellness, according to Cristie Upshaw Travis, chief executive officer of the local group. That is a return worth the investment.

Encouraging employees to eat better, exercise and stop smoking leads to a more productive employee and lower health insurance costs. Not every employee will want to jump aboard the health train, but incentives could be offered as an inducement.

The bottom line is that employees and employers all benefit in a workplace that stresses good health.