Prevention Matters

Safeway CEO Stephen Burd says well-designed health-care reform, utilizing market-based solutions, "can ultimately reduce our nation's health-care bill by 40%."

In an op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal, Burd says Safeway implemented such a plan for its workers in 2005. Since then, he says "we have kept our per capita health-care costs flat (that includes both the employee and the employer portion), while most American companies' costs have increased 38% over the same four years."

"The key to achieving these savings is health-care plans that reward healthy behavior," he says. Burd is a member of Partnership for Prevention's "Leading by Example" initiative.

Republicans are using prevention to help frame their approach to health reform. The Senate Republican Conference and the Republican Policy Committee will hold a May 21 hearing on Capitol Hill to discuss "wellness and prevention through healthy behavior as a key to health care reform."

"This hearing will explore solutions that can help keep Americans healthier and truly bend the cost curve in the right direction," said a hearing announcement.

The wording of the witness list suggests the hearing will focus heavily upon the notion of personal responsibility.

It describes former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee as a person "whose efforts to improve his own health after being diagnosed with Type II diabetes have received national attention." There is no mention of the many state programs Huckabee actually put in place to help combat childhood obesity, like mandatory BMI measurements of every public school student and restrictions on junk food on school campuses.

Steve Burd, CEO of Safeway, Inc., is touted for his "consumer-driven health care program that could serve as a template for addressing the national health care crisis." "Consumer-driven" would appear to be an alternative to "government program."

In his forward to the 2002 "Call to Action" on obesity and overweight, Surgeon General David Satcher said: "Many people believe that dealing with overweight and obesity is a personal responsibility. To some degree they are right, but it is also a community responsibility." He went on to explain that personal responsibility can only exist in a community where healthy choices are readily available. Where there are no safe places to play or exercise, where healthy food choices are either scarce or unaffordable, and where environments are unhealthy, personal responsibility can have a hard time taking root.

Three companies that are members of Partnership for Prevention’s "Leading by Example" initiative were among the businesses honored at a White House ceremony for their commitment to aggressive workplace health programs.

Johnson & Johnson CEO William Weldon, Safeway CEO Steve Burd and Pitney Bowes CEO Murray Martin were among a handful of executives praised by President Obama for reining in skyrocketing health care costs through programs designed to make their workforces healthier.

Obama saluted the firms for encouraging their employees to exercise, lose weight and quit smoking—and for offering innovations such as physician house calls aimed at keeping patients out of the emergency room. “All this [is] designed to save taxpayers money, save businesses money and ultimately make the American people healthier and happier [and] make sure we’re getting a bigger bang for our health care dollars,” the president said.

Through the Leading by Example initiative, CEOs who have incorporated new, successful approaches to employee health and productivity share their experiences and knowledge with other CEOs.

The Partnership for Prevention website has more information on programs and initiativces at the three employers.