Wellness

For all employers' focus on curbing obesity statistics through healthy eating and exercise programs, it can be easy to forget that smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. One employer, Nelnet, is remaining vigilant about stamping out smoking among its employee population.

As employers move past the anxiety and drama over the Supreme Court ruling on health care reform, there's no escaping the fact that steep employee medical benefit costs remain as a serious concern - not only in the United States, but all over the world.

Last September, after the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act gave the Department of Health and Human Services authority to review premium rates in states that didn't have strong enough review programs, the agency began handing down decrees of "unreasonable" premium rates for insurers that proposed increasing rates by an average of 10% or more - meaning HHS can publically shame an insurer.

"The whole onsite clinic thing has been a buzz the last few years," says Michael Troup, partner at Forsite Benefits.

Employers who postponed action on health reform compliance will now be going full tilt to continue meeting the legislation's provisions that take effect this year and beyond. But even larger strategic questions loom over their roles as benefit sponsors.

Ever since the Supreme Court issued its ruling to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in June, family, friends and colleagues have been asking me, "What do you think of the ruling? Is it good? Is it bad? Does it matter?"

Do you work sitting on your butt all day? Yeah, me too - and we're not alone.

You've been thinking about introducing a wellness program and finally feel like you've developed a solid business case. You walk in to your manager's office and barely get these words out of your mouth, "I'd like to talk about wellness ... ," when you hear a combination of: "We don't have the money for it ... you have better things to work on ... only the healthy will use it ... ." You meekly head back to your desk and put your wellness presentation up on the shelf. Is this you? If yes, let the "tree of healthy" be your green thumb of wellness success.

After the Supreme Court upheld the so-called individual mandate and substantially all of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act following a legal challenge led by my home state of Florida, President Obama hadn't finished his victory lap before the political line was drawn in the sand. The battle is over, but war wages on until the American people take to the voting booth in November. I have a feeling this election year will be an interesting one, and with a front row seat in Florida, I'm going to be tuned in and transfixed.

Sedentary office workers, including busy HR practitioners, may want to stand up to absorb some provocative news published in the online medical journal BMJ Open: Most Americans could live two years longer on average if they’d spend less than three hours a day sitting.