Prevention Matters

Today, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius released a report highlighting the health insurance premium and out-of-pocket savings families and businesses can receive under the “Affordable Care Act” in 2014. Between 1999-2009 premiums more than doubled by rising over $7,500 for families that get their health insurance through an employer.

The report outlines several of the provisions the “Affordable Care Act” has and will implement. Provisions already in progress include new resources for states to improve their review of proposed health insurance premium rate increases and the eligibility for small businesses to receive tax credits that covers up to 35 percent of insurance costs of their employees.

The provisions for families that will be implemented disclose the importance of State-based Health Insurance Exchanges to middle-class families and tax credits that reduce cost sharing. Small businesses will also experience significant cost savings. By 2014, small businesses on average could save up to $350 per family policy and will be eligible for tax credits up to 50 percent of premiums. All businesses will likely see lower premiums of $2,000 per family by 2019.

Partnership for Prevention’s new Leading by Example The Value of Worksite Health Promotion to Small and Medium Sized Employers publication provides real examples of successful worksite health promotion programs for small to medium sized employers. The employers highlighted in this publication have taken the initiative to reduce health care costs by increasing the health of their employees. The publication can be downloaded at http://prevent.org/Initiatives/Leading-by-Example.aspx.

For more information please visit:
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2011pres/01/20110128a.html

Worksite wellness programs can be successful if implemented and executed correctly, a new study suggests. The study identifies six pillars that create a successful, strategically integrated wellness program regardless of an organizations size that include topics like multilevel leadership, alignment, and communication. The study examined 10 organizations across a variety of industries whose wellness programs have systemically achieved measurable results.

Worksite wellness programs have a history of being effective at increasing employee health while decreasing health care cost. Since 1995, Johnson & Johnson’s employee wellness program has cumulatively saved the company $250 million on health care, and from 2002-2008 the return was $2.71 for every dollar the company spent. Other organizations have had similar results with their worksite wellness programs. MD Anderson Cancer Center within the last 6 years was able to decrease lost works days by 80%, and the software firm SAS Institute was able to lower voluntary attrition to just 4% with their worksite wellness program.

Partnership for Prevention also recognizes the importance of worksite wellness programs with our Leading by Example initiative. The initiative includes publications designed to increase CEOs and CFOs understanding of the importance of worksite wellness programs by highlighting companies with exemplary comprehensive worksite wellness programs. Two new publications each featuring 16 companies will be released in the upcoming months.

For more information on the study please click here.


Katherine Ruffatto
Worksite Health Program Associate

September 26, 2010 marked the 10th anniversary of World Heart Day. Organized by the World Heart Federation, including the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology, World Heart Day calls attention to the death and disability caused by heart disease and stroke. Most people now understand that cardiovascular disease is the world’s leading cause of death and most people can identify at least some of the contributing risk factors – high cholesterol, high blood pressure, tobacco use. While we can name the threats, we are slower to recognize and embrace the policies and actions to prevent heart disease and stroke. Controlling diabetes, stopping tobacco use, eating more nutritiously and being more physically active are all important ways to help your heart stay healthy.

This year’s World Heart Day focus was workplace wellness. Most working adults spend the majority of their day at work and what we do at work affects our heart health. One of Partnership’s signature programs, Leading by Example (LBE) promotes workplace health through CEO to CEO engagement. Our LBE publications highlight the efforts of leading companies to build and support a healthy workforce.

Make your heart a 365 day project. Incorporate healthier practices while at work and home. Those working virtually or at home aren’t off the hook. Take a walk, put down the candy bar or cigarette and think about other ways to protect your heart during your work day.

For more information on Leading by Example click here, and for worksite health click here.


Diane Canova
VP, Policy and Programs
Partnership for Prevention

Alcohol-based hand cleaners shown to reduce common infections and number of workdays lost was named the “Best News for Prevention” while the risky behavior of driving with pets was named the “Worst News for Prevention.”

BEST

Hand Cleansers Cut Absenteeism

Putting alcohol-based hand cleansers in work places slashed the incidence of several common infections and reduced the number of workdays lost, a randomized trial showed.

Access to the disinfectants was associated with odds ratios of 0.35 to 0.45 (P<0.05) for reported colds, fevers, and coughs in an unblinded trial with 129 participants, according to Nils-Olaf Hübner, MD, of the Institute of Hygiene and Environmental Medicine in Greifswald, Germany, and colleagues.

The researchers also found that putting disinfectants on employees' desks helped reduce absenteeism. The effect was modest overall, but workdays lost because of diarrhea were cut dramatically, they reported in the online open-access journal BMC Infectious Diseases.

WORST

Study: Driving under influence of pets a danger


Safety experts have a new pet peeve related to distracted driving. In addition to texting or talking on a cell phone while driving, lap dogs and other pets left unrestrained inside moving vehicles pose a major distraction that could be deadly, a new study released Wednesday warns motorists.

About two-thirds of dog owners surveyed by the AAA organization said they routinely drive while petting or playing with their dogs, sometimes even giving them food or water while maneuvering through traffic.

It has been a common sight for many years to see dogs hanging their heads out of open car windows with their ears flapping in the breeze. But in the cocoon that the automobile has become, more drivers are nonchalantly cradling their dogs atop their laps or perching the animals on their chests with the pet's front paws clutching the driver's neck or shoulders. It's risky behavior for the driver and dangerous for the pets, too.


The “Best and Worst” awards are announced each week in “Prevention Matters,” the blog of Partnership for Prevention. "Best and Worst News for Prevention” is based on a purposive sample of expert staff members who each week choose to share their opinions on the best and worst news for prevention. More information is available at http://www.prevent.org/.

Partnership for Prevention recently exhibited at the 2010 National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) in Louisville, Kentucky. The conference was widely attended by legislators, legislative staffers, government officials, business representatives, union members, foundation representatives and others interested in public policy. Concurrent sessions focused on the economy, transportation, education, health care, human services, energy, environment and professional development for legislators and staff. Many state representatives and senators came to the Partnership exhibit booth to hear information about the organization and its policy and programmatic efforts. Save Lives and Money - Help People on Medicaid Quit Tobacco, a new resource from Partnership for Prevention /ActionToQuit and the American Lung Association, garnered the most attention from state legislators and other conference attendees. This resource underscored that Medicaid recipients smoke more than any other population segment and made the argument that, by covering all of them, individual states could save both lives and money. Only six states lead the way in providing the seven recommended medications and group and individual counseling for all Medicaid patients. Save Lives and Money can be downloaded on the ActionToQuit website’s “Resources” section at http://actiontoquit.org/resources/.

Partnership staff also engaged legislators and staffers through the distribution of hand sanitizer, especially Kentucky Senator Gerald A. Neal (D). Senator Neal was intrigued by Partnership’s hand sanitizer “give away” as a mechanism to promote good health and prevent disease. The Kentucky Senator was very interested in distributing hand sanitizer at a community health event that stressed the importance of the prevention. During the dialogue, Partnership identified various health agenda intersections and plans to follow up with his office to discuss community health prevention. In addition to the hand sanitizer, Partnership also distributed a CD of the organization’s top five publications to legislative staffers. Entitled “NCSL 2010”, the CD included the following publications: 2009 Annual Report, CDC Action Guide: Places for Physical Activity, CDC Action Guide: Social Support for Physical Activity, Healthy Workforce 2010 and Beyond, Investing In Health, and Smokefree Policies. Legislative staffers liked the idea of having the organization’s most popular publications on a compact disc. Many expressed that it would help streamline their efforts when needing to consult with a “prevention” authority.

On April 28th Partnership's Garry Lindsay was interviewed by Sarah Kessler for her Inc. magazine article “How to Start a Wellness Program.”  Kessler's article includes several links for free resources from Partnership for Prevention and other sources that can be used by small to mid-sized employers to plan and implement worksite health promotion programs.