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As we are all well aware, health care expenditures in the United States are out of control and growing at epic proportions. Since private industry shoulders a significant burden of paying these rising health care costs, the huge and ever increasing sum paid by these corporations continues to impact the US economy translating into higher prices of services and manufactured goods and reduced job opportunities when companies outsource jobs or locate manufacturing facilities to avoid paying health care benefits for workers. As a result, health care expenditures have become a centerpiece of an enormous public policy debate as Congress is currently working on several versions of a bill to completely revise health care from the ground up. This research project was accomplished to examine the effectiveness of one approach to control rising health care costs and contain corporate financial responsibility--the establishment of wellness and health risk screening programs to improve the health of employees. Total health care cost per insured individual was gathered through an online survey directly from health care benefit administrators. The survey also asked information about wellness and health risk screening programs and the related responses were used to determine if there were a relationship between health care costs and health prevention programs. While statistical analysis was hampered in the current study because of the small sample size, some valid conclusions were reached. The study was successful in identifying a benchmark of Average Total Health Care Cost per Individual from $5,100 to $5,800 for 2005 through 2007. This is especially interesting in light of the fact that an average of $7,026 was spent on health care per person in 2006 in the United States. (1) The study was also able to contribute an estimate of the increase realized in these expenditures of 6 percent in 2007 over 2006, and 4 percent in 2006 over 2005, which were in fact similar to the national average. The final contribution of the study is to suggest an explanation for the costs which appear to be holding their own in terms of the national average. While this cannot be statistically verified, it does seem that the active participation of these companies in wellness programs could be a factor. Wellness programs were very popular in this sample of companies as 82 percent of the respondents answered 'YES' when asked if the company funds their own employee wellness program. This is an impressive number of companies that have recognized wellness programs as a potential means to reduce employee health care costs. In regards to specific programs, at least 50 percent of respondents answered that they have smoking cessation, employee fitness, counseling, health risk screening, and bio-metric screening programs. The existence of health screening variables show an impressive 73 percent of respondents do practice some sort of health care screening, 50 percent offer biometric screening while 18 percent have onsite clinics and 23 percent run annual employee fairs. Key words: wellness program, health risk screening program, preventative health programs., Health care expenditures in the United States are out of control and growing at epic proportions. The United States spends more on health per capita than any other country, and [...]

Objective. To estimate the effect of growth in health care costs that outpaces gross domestic product (GDP) growth ("excess" growth in health care costs) on employment, gross output, and value added to GDP of U.S. industries. Study Setting. We analyzed data from 38 U.S. industries for the period 1987-2005. All data are publicly available from various government agencies. Study Design. We estimated bivariate and multivariate regressions. To develop the regression models, we assumed that rapid growth in health care costs has a larger effect on economic performance for industries where large percentages of workers receive employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI). We used the estimated regression coefficients to simulate economic outcomes under alternative scenarios of health care cost inflation. Results. Faster growth in health care costs had greater adverse effects on economic outcomes for industries with larger percentages of workers who had ESI. We found that a 10 percent increase in excess growth in health care costs would have resulted in 120,803 fewer jobs, US$28,022 million in lost gross output, and US$14,082 million in lost value added in 2005. These declines represent 0.17 to 0.18 percent of employment, gross output, and value added in 2005. Conclusion. Excess growth in health care costs is adversely affecting the economic performance of U.S. industries. Key Words. Health care costs, economy, employment, industry, employer-sponsored health insurance, The rate of growth in health care costs in the United States has outpaced the growth rate in the gross domestic product (GDP) for many years. Correspondingly, the share of [...]

At first blush, the basic numbers paint a grim picture. While there's a double-digit annual increase in health outlays, as many as 3.1 million people are infected with HIV and [...]

BLISTERING HEALTH-CARE cost increases have forever transformed the once paternalistic employer-provided benefit into an ever-increasing cost-share arrangement with the employee. Managed-care and disease-management programs attempted to control the upward spiral; [...]

In a bid for a seat at the healthcare-reform table, representatives of the healthcare industry have offered President Barack Obama $2 trillion in cost reductions over 10 years. Meanwhile, House [...]

This is the third part of a Perspectives series on the state of consumer-directed health coverage. The second part appeared in our August 2 issue. On one point there is [...]

Synopsis: There's a colossal issue facing the U.S. government thatas not garnering the same public awareness as the financial bailout. Itas hidden in the U.S. healthcare system, and it presents [...]

The overall cost of the Medicare Part D program to beneficiaries and taxpayers is lower than previously estimated and customer satisfaction is high, CMS officials announced. Kerry Weems, acting CMS [...]

Byline: Rep. Duncan Hunter I believe our healthcare system and its challenges need to be addressed in a new way that empowers our strongest asset in controlling the spiraling cost [...]

Byline: James Mongan The presidential campaign has sparked a rigorous and much-needed national debate over health system reform, with polls consistently pointing to healthcare as the public's top domestic concern. [...]

Senate Republicans on Thursday unveiled a proposal to encourage government employers and schools to form health insurance purchasing pools that could lower their health care costs. The package of legislation, [...]

Byline: Matthew DoBias Last week's release of U.S. healthcare spending data may hurt hospitals' arguments that they're suffering from a lack of funding. The data show hospitals' spending climbed by [...]

The head of anesthesiology at Memorial Medical Center, New Orleans, said he heard no discussions about nor saw any evidence of acts of euthanasia during the days that followed Hurricane [...]

"As hospitals and clinics commit billions of dollars to new projects to serve patients and higher salaries for their workforces, the announcements are treated as good news, which they are. [...]

Suppliers and auto makers frequently fail to see eye-to-eye, but they apparently agree that rising health-care costs make it more difficult for either to compete globally. Supplier and OEM employees [...]

Byline: Betty Liddick A growing number of companies, struggling to combat the escalating cost of health care, have reinvented the industrial clinics of decades ago. In place of nurses patching [...]

The costs of Medicaid, the medical care program for the poor, are soaring out of control. While calls for reform have been building for years, for most of the parties, [...]

The state's stash of ready health care cash is dwindling, and a legislative dilemma looms. The Health Care Reform Act, which funds programs as diverse as medical education and insurance [...]

NHS expenditure on drugs in England reached #8,459 million in real terms in 2002-03, health minister Rosie Winterton has said. This represents a 130 per cent increase on the #3,677m [...]

Byline: Todd Sloane The two remaining presidential debates will feature arguments over the candidates' healthcare plans, centering on access to care and the merits and shortcomings of the new Medicare [...]

Michigan employers need health care quality data so consumers can make smarter choices about the way they spend their medical dollars, human-resources directors told health plan executives last week at [...]

With annual health care costs surging 9.3% to an average $5,440 per person in 2002, employers with self-funded plans are being whipsawed by the financial risks associated with plan sponsorship [...]

A Mercer survey shows that employers believe that benefit cost will rise by 9% in 2010, up from the 5.5% increase to $8,945 in 2009. Employers hope to lower costs to 6% by making changes in benefit plans. Details on new health management programs and consumer-dedicated plans are discussed.

The aging demography of America ensures that America's healthcare needs will continue to grow for the foreseeable future. So, it's only natural that healthcare expenditures are growing across the board [...]

Not that the dragon of healthcare cost for employers in the United States has finally been slayed, but researchers have noted a positive trend in that costs are expected to [...]

In 2006, the new Medicare prescription drug benefit contributed to an 18.7 percent increase in Medicare spending, which rose to $401.3 billion, up from $338 billion a year earlier, according [...]

In 2006, the new Medicare prescription drug benefit contributed to an 18.7 percent increase in Medicare spending, which rose to $401.3 billion, up from $338.0 billion a year earlier, according [...]