News and Updates

Health Promotion Provisions are law

Advocacy Brief  

From Health Promotion Advocates

This brief provides the information you need to advocate for important health promotion provisions contained in the current health care reform legislation. As part of our grass roots effort, we’re reaching out to you for help.

As this landmark legislation goes through the paces in Washington, we believe these particular provisions for workplace health promotion will tremendously benefit employers and all working men and women across the country.  A healthier America means a stronger America. That’s not a slogan. It’s a fact. Here’s what you should know.

Our Objective

Improve the quality of life for millions of Americans and, at the same time, reduce medical costs for treating lifestyle-related diseases thereby making health care more affordable for both employers and their employees. To achieve this primary objective, we must support the health promotion provisions in the current legislation.

Why it’s Important

This new legislation will help put more focus on prevention. With these provisions in place, health promotion efforts at the workplace will be more easily accepted as part of a national policy, making it easier for employers to implement programs and help employers with existing programs to expand them. The result? A new way of thinking about health care. A new American culture of health.

Help Make it Happen

Here’s what we hope you will do. Send an e-mail message to your employees, colleagues, friends and family advocating for this legislation. Feel free to use any of the content contained in this message, along with the talking points below in your message. Because most senators and representatives pay more attention to faxed letters (as opposed to e-mails), we’ve created a web site that automatically faxes a letter to the visitor’s legislator.

Talking Points

• Lifestyle is responsible for 40 percent of all deaths in the United States each year and is the cause of preventable chronic diseases for 30 million Americans.
  
• These chronic conditions account for $1.8 trillion in health care costs each year ¾ or roughly 75 percent of our country’s total annual medical expenditures.
  
• Sadly, the majority of these costly and often deadly conditions could be avoided by simple lifestyle changes.
  
• The health promotion provisions in the legislation are
  • Development of a national health promotion plan
  • Enhanced health promotion research
  • A national campaign to employers of the benefits of workplace health  promotion programs
  • Technical assistance to enhance evaluation of workplace health promotion programs
  • Research on best practices in workplace health promotion programs
  • Regular periodic surveys on workplace health program prevalence and components
  • Grants to pay a portion of the cost of comprehensive workplace health promotion programs
  • Increasing a portion of health plan premiums tied to lifestyle factors from   20% to 30%, adding safeguards, and referring to Health and Human Services to study the benefits of increasing the portion to 50%
    
• Contact your senators and representative to ask them to support legislation that has the potential to transform “sick care” to a true “health care” system by promoting prevention and the health of our nation.
  
• Many congressional offices know the importance of health promotion in health care reform and they understand why these ideas have merit. They need to know that you support these concepts to make a final decision, so your effort is very important.
  
• To advocate for this legislation, please visit http://www.passwellnessact.org where you can “sign” an electronic letter that will be faxed directly to your congressional representatives with just a few clicks. It’s that easy—and it’s strictly voluntary.