|
We can think of all people as existing
somewhere on a health risk continuum based on their behavior
and current health status. The health risk continuum ranges
from low risk behavior, where people exercise regularly and
eat right, to high risk, where people can’t work due to
their health.
Once people begin picking up bad habits,
they get sicker. For example, overweight people who smoke
and are less active have added risk to their lives. That
risk can lead to obesity and pre-diabetes.
Continued unchecked, high risk behavior
turns into acute and chronic conditions like heart disease,
diabetes and certain cancers. Ultimately, some people
unfortunately exhibit catastrophic conditions.
That brings us back to that rule of thumb
that about 5% of people are responsible for over 50% of
health care costs. These come from acute and catastrophic
cases that are serious personal, business and financial
problems.
Every company has its own health risk
continuum based on employees’ behavior and health. Can you
predict what the health risk continuum looks like at your
company? The health risk continuum is a predictor of future
costs.
1 Estimates of the Economic
Cost of Obesity in the United States, Obesity Research, 1998
2 E. Thorpe, Curtis S.
Florence, David H. Howard, Peter Joski, The Impact of
Obesity on Rising Medical Spending, Health Affairs, Web
Exclusive, October 20, 2004.
learn more ...
|
