Six years ago, The Jackson Laboratory was in trouble. In 2007, The Jackson Laboratory’s per capita health costs were 40% higher than its provider Aetna’s book of business, large ly because of its location in Maine, where 55% of adults are overweight, and 38% of teens and 76% of adults don’t exercise. Health care costs are 19% of the state’s gross domestic product (other states average 13%), and health care is the strongest job creator in Maine, a sign that more people use the health systems there.
Jackson Labs, a genetic research laboratory and supplier of more than 1,000 strains of mice for lab testing worldwide, was getting killed on costs, so the company made a big investment in a two-pronged approach: drive employees to use the more cost-efficient and outcomes-based area hospital, and build health incentives into its benefit design to change behavior.
