Wellness works: Indiana employers begin to see benefits of well-workplace programs.

• Author: McKimmie, Kathy

Two-thirds of adults are over weight, half of them are obese. We don t like that word "obese." We prefer to think of ourselves as "heavy." But labels and denial aside, the packed-on weight is contributing to near epidemic rates of type 2 diabetes, as well as congestive heart failure, stroke and hypertension. Children are catching up, with one in six overweight.

The fallout from overeating and sitting still, combined with the high-cost of smoking-related illness, adds up to a hemorrhage in avoidable health-care spending.

"Indiana, Ohio and Michigan are known as the 'fat triangle,'" says Steve Jungbauer, director of MedStat, offering wellness services and managed care at Kosciusko Community Hospital in Warsaw. "Fort Wayne is the test market for new foods." The "medical model" of just treating the signs and symptoms of illness won't do anymore, he says, when 50 percent of the health care expenses are caused by lifestyle choices.

"Our society over the years has created a norm where a business or workplace is responsible for our health care," says Jungbauer. So, like it or not, it falls on the employer to provide prevention and wellness programs to control rising healthcare costs.

MacAllister Machinery in Indianapolis decided to make wellness and prevention a priority after five years of 20 percent annual increases in its health-care plan. "Costs were out of control," says president Chris MacAllister. "We were waiting for things to get better and they weren't, so we be came proactive." The family-owned Caterpillar dealer has a mostly male, 560-employee workforce spread over 11 locations in the state.

The health-care cost split has traditionally been two thirds employer and one-third employee, says MacAllister, so both sides felt the pain when costs increased. "We're self-funded. It's our money. Deductions from their checks are going up." Although he says there was a fear of change among employees, they realized that the current situation couldn't go on.

"There are a couple cornerstones to our approach," says MacAllister. "One is lifestyle: wellness, diet, exercise. Our incentive program is tied to this. The other is how people buy health care. We want to change to more of a consumer-type philosophy."

Earlier this year the company conducted a health risk appraisal of employees, measuring baselines in five areas. If an employee improves in any area at next year's assessment, a S300 incentive bonus will be awarded. If the same improvement is...