The High Cost of Doing Nothing

Martin Collis

"Bizaro"

I sometimes wonder what it will take for governments, employers and insurance companies to put more focus and money into wellness. Just getting people reasonably active would save billions of dollars each year. In the January 2000 edition of Business and Health, Chenoweth and Pfohl, of Health Management Associates (www.hlthmgt.com), an econometrics and data analysis firm, reported their findings about the impact of sedentary lifestyle on medical and workers compensation costs in the State of North Carolina. Using a technique called Proportionate Risk Factor Cost Appraisal (PRFCA) they arrived at some staggering numbers. "Conservative" estimates add $600 million for circulatory conditions and $660 million on the musculoskeletal side, for a grand total of $1.83 billion annually, the bulk of which is absorbed by employers.

H.M.A. was then asked to do a similar study in New York State where preliminary results show that physical inactivity costs at least $3 billion a year. The authors go on to note:

"Overall, the combined $5 billion cost estimate for physical inactivity in North Carolina and New York is very conservative, perhaps only one third to one fourth of the actual cost of all types of medical claims associated with inactivity were factored in."

I remember talking to one C.E.O. who was concerned that his employees would have to see a physician before starting an employee fitness program. My response was that the employees that should see a physician were those that were going to remain sedentary, as they were the ones at risk.

Help from the Top? A front runner for Surgeon General is my friend and mentor, Dr. Kenneth Cooper. Dr. Cooper is the personal physician to the President and Mrs. Bush and in his late 1960's did more than anyone else to get America moving. If Dr. Cooper does become Surgeon General I think we can look forward to some support and leadership in lifestyle enhancement for the citizens of the United States. (see www.cooperinst.org)		One of the early copies of "Aerobics" from 1968.