Posted on 06/12/2009 10:24:38 AM PDT by Ooh-Ah
Market-based solutions can reduce the national health-care bill by 40%.
Effective health-care reform must meet two objectives: 1) It must secure coverage for all Americans, and 2) it must dramatically lower the cost of health care. Health-care spending has outpaced the rise in all other consumer spending by nearly a factor of three since 1980, increasing to 18% of GDP in 2009 from 9% of GDP. This disturbing trend will not change regardless of who pays these costs -- government or the private sector -- unless we can find a way to improve the health of our citizens. Failure to do so will make American companies less competitive in the global marketplace, increase taxes, and undermine our economy.
At Safeway we believe that well-designed health-care reform, utilizing market-based solutions, can ultimately reduce our nation's health-care bill by 40%. The key to achieving these savings is health-care plans that reward healthy behavior. As a self-insured employer, Safeway designed just such a plan in 2005 and has made continuous improvements each year. The results have been remarkable. During this four-year period, 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.
Safeway's plan capitalizes on two key insights gained in 2005. The first is that 70% of all health-care costs are the direct result of behavior. The second insight, which is well understood by the providers of health care, is that 74% of all costs are confined to four chronic conditions (cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity). Furthermore, 80% of cardiovascular disease and diabetes is preventable, 60% of cancers are preventable, and more than 90% of obesity is preventable.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
“Did you read the whole article? People who choose to live unhealthy lifestyles pay more for insurance, but nobody got fired and nobody got denied coverage.”
I dunno, most of the employees at safeways I frequent seem younger/healthier than what I saw there a few years ago.
How many of the specified illnesses are preventable as opposed to delayable? We are all going to die, and unless you are eaten by a bear or keel over from a heart attack away from any medical care your final treatment will likely be very expensive as medicine tries to delay the inevitable. Now, if a company can delay those costs until after retirement or the age when the employee enters Medicare, then the employer has saved all that money. However, as a total across the country we haven't because that just means that more of those costs (and more years of life if the person is healthier at 65) are shifted to Medicare. It doesn't avoid the ultimate decision "treat or don't treat" which is at the core of rationing of health care.
Some of the actuarial calculations of how old you live go into the decisions on whether smoking should remain legal. If everyone stopped smoking, Social Security would go bankrupt even more quickly as people lived longer. Similarly for Medicare as people lived more years under it getting the typical problems of old age before they finally die of something expensive rather than just dying early from lung cancer and not incurring 10 years of other treatments.
Yet Safeway managed to pay a local person who had worked for them less than a year as a checker-—with the scanners—who is about 100 ## overweight for a ‘carpal tunnel’ problem, which I swear was much more the result of his constant hand to mouth movements, which keep him very obese.
He is less than 40 years old, and he claims he is ‘disabled for life’ with less than a year of working as a grocery checker.
Another crock of crap, and Safeway bought into his delusions.
I've found that the hospital is *always* willing to negotiate. "How much can you knock off if I write you a check right now", usually is an excellent place to start.
Getting healthier probably helps make them look younger, I look younger at almost 40 than I did at 35, and there being significantly less of me has a lot to do with it. Their data says if they pass all 4 tests their rates drop $780 a year, plus they get $312 a year for not smoking. An extra thousand bucks a year is good incentive to get healthier.
That is good to know. I’ve wondered myself if the solution to healthcare costs is to actually go cash only for everyone.
Did Safeway buy into it or did their lawyer say it’ll be cheaper in the long run to pretend the guy is right.
You are correct.. I want the govt OR private industry in the “Lifestyle Nanny business”.
My business what goes on in my life after work. If I want a burger or a smoke.. I WILL not tolerate being told I cant have it. If need be I will lie but I will not be told what to do by my govt or my employer when it comes to what I eat.
You are correct, safeway is unionized and I am amazed they are letting this fly.
If health care is so expensive go after the root cause (Like a Tylenol costing 400 bucks in the emergency room). That and STOP giving free care to illegals.
I had the displeasure of working for them many years ago and there was a reason we called it “Slaveway”. This kinda stuff adds new meaning to it.
I find this kind of creepy. Maybe Safeway’s next savings step will be to “Logan’s Run” all employees over 40.
From the article:
The Healthy Measures program currently applies only to our nonunion work force. While we have numerous health and wellness provisions in our union contracts, we are working with union leaders like Joe Hansen of the United Food and Commercial Workers to incorporate healthy measures provisions in our union work force as well.
Are you saying regardless of a person’s habits, everyone should pay the same for health care? If you go home and smoke and eat burgers that’s fine. You are 5 foot 10 and weigh 250 pounds (not saying you do, just an example) and I’m 5 foot 10 and weigh 175 pounds and don’t smoke - we should both pay the same amount for coverage? Does that make sense to you?
This could simply be market-forces at work. If I'm overweight, and paying more for my insurance because of my weight - but I move to a competitor, do the same job, at the same pay rate - but have LOWER insurance premiums because EVERYONE pays the same rate, my take home pay may go up every paycheck.
And the other thought to bear in mind that for a great many people, a job like Safeway is a transitional job they hold until they find something better, either by gaining experience, education or simply perseverance.
No so tricky if you're paying for health care out of your own pocket.
If you see that your bad behavior is raising your health expenses, you tend to cut back on that behavior.
When you're getting health care for free, who cares? Live it up.
“Are you saying regardless of a person’s habits, everyone should pay the same for health care? If you go home and smoke and eat burgers that’s fine. You are 5 foot 10 and weigh 250 pounds (not saying you do, just an example) and I’m 5 foot 10 and weigh 175 pounds and don’t smoke - we should both pay the same amount for coverage? Does that make sense to you?”
I have spent a lot of time thinking about what is fair when it comes to healthcare, which for better or worse, the government is doing as well. No easy answers for sure.
Rationale behind it is that she needs to bill $300, to get $75 from the insurance company, and have a staff just to deal with all of the insurance paperwork, to boot.
Why not cut insurance out of the deal completely? At least for "routine maintenance", I say that it's an excellent idea.
BO likely would disagree, though.
Are you going to include all “habits?” What about sleeping around, drinking alcohol, homosexuality, risky hobbies, driving a motorcycle, not wearing sun screen, putting butter on your toast, stress, drinking large amounts of soda, not eating “enough” fruits and veggies,......where does it end? Who gets to measure the risk factors of your lifestyle choices? Slippery slopes are just that, slippery.
The way to get government and private industry out of the Lifestyle Nanny business is to eliminate this idiotic system of having medical care paid for by third parties.
Costs will never come down until the consumer is directly exposed to the cost.
If you drive a rental, you don’t mind hitting the pot holes and putting in the cheapest gas you can find.
If it is your car, you take care of it and shop for the best bargain when it is time for repairs.
Right now, health care is a rental model. The incentive is to spend the most for your monthly premium.
Put the entire country on a health care savings plan and watch the %GNP stabilize and begin to trend down.
“That is good to know. I’ve wondered myself if the solution to healthcare costs is to actually go cash only for everyone.”
It would definitely curb the increase in cost.
For most people it is not the food but the quantity. They overeat. It is behavior based on ignorance that leads to excessive costs. The same behavior often insists that someone else pay for the care. Alter the behavior and see reduced costs. I can stomach a national health care plan only if it rewards and punishes good and bad health behavior. Of course it won't do it to my satisfaction. It will likely follow the familiar pattern of other government programs (War on Poverty). If it were as fair as the military I would be satisfied.
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