Corporate Wellness ProgramsCorporate wellness programs are essential to the financial health of organizations in the United States today. Corporate wellness programs vary in their methods, but the end goals are the same: reduce medical costs and increase employee productivity. Health care costs now consume more than 50% of corporate profits and continue to rise at nearly 12% per year (Powell, 1999, p. 15). This dramatic increase in costs has employers looking for innovative ways to combat costs. Additionally, larger companies now operate with more employees in a smaller space, which creates more stress and allows illnesses to spread more quickly. Corporate wellness programs focus on a proactive approach to employee health because 80% of all illnesses are preventable (Prevent a Disease [PD], 2000, 3). I'll provide you with an overview and some specific examples of these corporate wellness programs and the results they produce. Rising insurance costs are one of the biggest reasons employers are investing more than ever in corporate wellness programs. Companies spent nearly $348 billion on employee health premiums in 1997, according to a study by (Kuttner, 1999). A quick overview of health insurance is necessary to better understand the methodology behind corporate wellness, starting with the fact that all insurance companies go out of business to make a profit. They look at the company's utilization each year (how much they paid for all employees in the company) and weigh that against the bonuses collected (how much they collected from employees). Then they calculate the additional costs to administer the program and a fair amount. profit. So, if there are a lot of sick people, the prices will increase a lot. If there are more healthy people, rates will rise again, but only by 4-5% (to account for inflation). The company must therefore either pass these costs on to the employee or find a way to reduce them, and this is where corporate well-being comes in. The first part of a successful corporate wellness program is assessing employees and risk factors. People who most often fall into the high-risk group are those who smoke or are overweight. This group is responsible for the majority of absences as well as their utilization, so it is very important that the program has a specific middle of paper... mind and spirit, while creating a more productive employee for them and adding for their benefit. The bottom line is that corporate wellness programs work and create financial fitness that everyone can participate in. References Centers For Disease Control (2000, July 2000). Health Statistics, July 2000. Retrieved June 28, 2004 from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/Iglehart, JK (1999). The American health care system: spending. The New England Journal of Medicine, 340(1). Kuttner, R (1999). The American health care system – employer-sponsored health coverage. The New England Journal of Medicine, 340(3).Prevent Disease (2000, June 1999). Well-being in business. Retrieved June 28, 2004 from http://www.preventdisease.com Powell, DR (1999). Characteristics of successful wellness programs. Journal of Employee Benefits, 24(3). Serxner, Gold, Anderson, and Williams (2001). The impact of a workplace health promotion program on short-term disability utilization. J Occupier, Eviron Med, 43(1).