The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce’s Healthy Business Bloomington recognition program was created to support the development and expansion of organizational policies conducive to healthier employee lifestyles.  Each week more businesses are showing interest and the program is growing in popularity at an incredible rate but this raises an important question – why?  Why are worksite wellness programs important and what’s in it for the employer?!

For the last half of a decade, healthcare costs and spending has been increasing at an incredible rate.  Healthcare spending doubles every 10 years!  If this trend continues one could expect many small businesses to fold due to their decreasing margin of profit associated with increased healthcare costs.  Fortunately, worksite wellness programs can step in here and prevent that from happening.  Nearly 75% of medical costs (about 1.8 trillion dollars/year) are caused by chronic diseases – like heart attacks, stroke, cancer, diabetes and arthritis.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chronic diseases are… “among the most common, costly and preventable of all health problems in the U.S.” Continue reading →