Healthy Workforce Act Legislation

By Bucky Marcus ---

In early April, 2009, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), along with Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), and Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), reintroduced legislation called the Healthy Workforce Act to joint members of Congress. They were seizing an opportunity to make wellness and prevention of disease a part of the overall discussion on health reform.

Their bill provides a tax credit for businesses that offer wellness programs designed to educate their employees on sound health management practices, so that they can create healthy lifestyles. The primary aim of the wellness legislation is to address the issue of a growing prevalence of chronic disease, and to improve the quality of life for both full-time and part-time workers.

In reintroducing the legislation, Sen. Harkin stated “health reform will not be complete without prevention and wellness being a centerpiece for fixing this broken system. The lifesaving and cost-saving benefits have been proven in study after study.”

He indicated that, at present, businesses are spending more than 50 percent of company profits to cover health care expenses. Yet with incentives to promote good health and chronic disease prevention, each dollar invested would give a $2 to $10 return within 12 to 18 months.

According to the lawmakers, approximately 145 million American adults lack wellness and in turn suffer from being overweight. Of that number, 74 million are considered obese. This means that over one-third of working-age adults in America are at risk to develop chronic diseases because they are not healthy.

The shift to wellness at work is key in changing these figures. They estimate that obesity and the subsequent health conditions associated with being overweight at work are costing companies  $117 billion a year.

Being overweight contributes to the cause of many serious and chronic health conditions that inhibit ones ability to work productively; among them are asthma, diabetes, and high blood pressure. These three conditions alone have resulted in 164 million lost work days annually, costing employers nearly $30 billion.

In order for businesses to receive the tax credit proposed under the Healthy Workforce Act, employers must offer wellness programs that include:

--complete assessments of employees’ health risks

--employee programs that target health awareness and behavior modification

--meaningful incentives for employee participation

--organizing a committee that tailors wellness programs to match the needs of the work force

According to Sen. John Cornyn, the legislation would help employers provide many healthy opportunities to their employees so that they can lead healthier lives. He indicated that this is an important piece of legislation for small business owners, who otherwise could not afford to provide wellness programs in their work place.

Furthermore, the American Heart Association states that work site wellness programs bring value and savings to employers by reducing health care costs, in turn enabling employees to use health care appropriately.

A change to a healthy lifestyle at work and home will increase performance of workers, lower absenteeism rates, and reduce the prevalence of chronic disease and illness.