Contact Information: Contact: Kathy Wilson 781-652-0499
As U.S. Senate Votes to Reward Healthy Behavior, Virgin HealthMiles Shares Data Validating Workplace Wellness Programs Can Help Lower Healthcare Costs
| Source: Virgin HealthMiles
BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - October 1, 2009) - On September 30, the U.S. Senate voted to adopt
a measure aimed at rewarding healthy behavior as part of the Obama
Administration's overall healthcare reform legislation. The Senate Finance
Committee voted for a bi-partisan amendment that would allow health plans
to provide financial incentives for people to quit smoking, exercise more
and engage in other healthy activities.
Yesterday's vote came in tandem with a new report published in the American
Heart Association's journal, Circulation, saying U.S. companies could
reduce health costs and boost productivity with programs that address risk
factors for heart disease among workers. According to the report, an
estimated 25-30 percent of companies' annual medical costs go to employees
with health problems including obesity, high blood pressure, high
cholesterol or diabetes -- all risk factors for heart disease.
Client data collected by Virgin HealthMiles, a provider of incentives-based
health and productivity programs for business and government, corroborates
the value of increased physical activity and incentives in lowering
healthcare costs. Virgin HealthMiles clients report considerable cost
savings as a result of their corporate wellness program. Virgin
HealthMiles clients also see quantifiable results from their wellness
initiatives: on average, 29% of formerly inactive members have become
active; 21% who were hypertensive or pre-hypertensive have lowered their
blood pressure by at least one category, and 14% with high body fat
percentage have dropped into the healthy range.
The Circulation report further noted that more than 130 million Americans
are employed, making the workplace an impactful forum for wellness
programs. This echoes a previous report published in The New England
Journal of Medicine, showing a direct correlation between health and a
person's social ties.
"Today's workplace is an ideal 'community' for fostering a healthy mindset
that has been directly proven by our clients to improve employee health and
lower healthcare costs," said Chris Boyce, CEO of Virgin HealthMiles.
"Increasing numbers of employers are recognizing they need to take a
leadership role to help curb soaring healthcare costs. The beauty of an
effective, incentives-based program like ours is that it doesn't require
employees to become triathletes, but simply increase their daily levels of
physical activity in ways that best suit their lifestyles, such as walking,
swimming, dancing or even remembering to take the stairs instead of the
elevator. There's ample room for us as a nation to improve our health and
the workplace is an ideal environment to encourage and support healthy
behavior change."
To speak with Mr. Boyce or for more information about Virgin HealthMiles,
contact Kathy Wilson at kwilson@tieronepr.com or 781-652-0499.