Obese employees cost their companies more than twice as much as healthy-weight employees
Normal-weight employees cost an average of $3,830 per year in covered medical, sick day, short-term disability and workers’ compensation claims.
Although it seems logical that weight loss would lower medical expenses for populations with chronic conditions, this correlation has been poorly understood. In a study published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, researchers analyzed savings associated with weight loss among commercially insured adults with chronic medical conditions.
This study has important implications for both individuals and employers. The age-adjusted prevalence of obesity among U.S. adults was more than 42% in 2018. Obesity is a significant risk factor for several common and costly chronic medical conditions, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and depression. The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the United States was $147 billion in 2008.
Employers bear a large share of excess costs attributed to obesity. Normal-weight employees cost an average of $3,830 per year in covered medical, sick day, short-term disability and workers’ compensation claims, while morbidly obese employees cost more than twice that amount, or $,8067. Although more than half of all large employers offer nutrition and weight management programs as part of their benefits packages, the cost savings associated with these programs has not been well documented.
Researchers reported three key findings:
Weight loss offers significantly significant savings for obese employees with weight-related conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension, mental health disorders, arthritis and back pain. Thus, researchers suggest that “impact analyses of employer-sponsored weight management programs should include total medical expenditures and condition-specific outcomes, and expenditures to validate the estimates provided in this analysis.
Second, the greatest savings potential is for those with the highest baseline body mass index. “This suggests that investments in weight management programs that produce even relatively small amounts of weight loss, when directed at the most obese populations, could provide meaningful savings for employers.”
And notably, the greatest savings potential is among non-Hispanic white employees. “Evaluations of such programs should evaluate the economic impacts of weight loss across racial and ethnic groups to provide empiric evidence regarding actual changes in total medical expenditures.”
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