The Fund supports several networks of state health policymakers to help identify, inspire, and inform policy leaders.
The Fund identifies and shares policy ideas and analysis on topics important to state health policymakers, particularly on issues related to state leadership, primary care, aging, and health care costs.
Keep up with news and updates from the Milbank Memorial Fund. And read the latest blogs from our thought leaders, including Fund President Christopher F. Koller.
The Fund publishes The Milbank Quarterly, as well as reports, issues briefs, and case studies on topics important to health policy leaders.
The Milbank Memorial Fund is an endowed operating foundation that aims to improve population health by connecting leaders and decision makers with the best available evidence and experience. It does this work by:
The Milbank Memorial Fund is an endowed operating foundation that publishes The Milbank Quarterly, commissions projects, and convenes state health policy decision makers on issues they identify as important to population health.
March 2009 (Volume 87)
LuAnn Heinen
Helen Darling
Back to The Milbank Quarterly
Context: Employers have pursued many strategies over the years to control health care costs and improve care. Disappointed by efforts to manage costs through the use of insurance-related techniques (e.g., prior authorization, restricted provider networks), employers have also begun to try to manage health by addressing their employees’ key lifestyle risks. Reducing obesity (along with tobacco use and inactivity) is a priority for employers seeking to lower the incidence and severity of chronic illness and the associated demand for health services. Methods: This article describes the employer’s perspective on the cost impact of obesity, discusses current practices in employer-sponsored wellness and weight management programs, provides examples from U.S. companies illustrating key points of employers’ leverage and opportunities, and suggests policy directions to support the expansion of employers’ initiatives, especially for smaller employers. Findings: Researchers and policymakers often overlook the extensive efforts and considerable impact of employer-sponsored wellness and health improvement programs. Greater focus on opportunities in the workplace is merited, however, for the evidence base supporting the economic and health impacts of employer-sponsored health promotion and wellness is growing, although not as quickly as the experience base of large employers. Conclusions: Public and private employers can serve their own economic interests by addressing obesity. Health care organizations, particularly hospitals, as well as public employers can be important role models. Policy development is needed to accelerate change, especially for smaller employers (those with fewer than 500 employees), which represent the majority of U.S. employers and are far less likely to offer health promotion programs.
Author(s): LuAnn Heinen; Helen Darling
Keywords: obesity; employer health costs; health promotion; wellness programs
Read on Wiley Online Library
Read on JSTOR
Volume 87, Issue 1 (pages 101–122) DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0009.2009.00549.x Published in 2009
