A UnumProvident report released earlier this year cited a tenfold increase over the past decade in short term disability claims in which obesity was identified as the primary diagnosis. The figures released this week look at data from the same time period (1996-2003), pulling from the company’s database of 1.3 million disability claims, the largest private database of disability information in the nation.
UnumProvident reports striking increases in claims for conditions in which obesity is either a risk factor or is strongly associated. The disability claim experience of these chronic health conditions includes:
“The increase in the incidence of disability claims for conditions related to obesity is alarming, and illustrates the potential scope, in terms of burden of suffering and the increase in healthcare costs, attributable to the obesity epidemic,” says Dr. Robert Anfield, vice president and medical director at UnumProvident. “It is clear that health and disability consequences of obesity are extensive and present daunting challenges.”
Indeed, the National Business Group on Health warns that the increasing obesity epidemic and its related health conditions hurt the health and well being of the current workforce, and threaten the health of employers’ bottom line.
“Today’s employers must absorb increasing health care costs,” Anfield says. “According to the National Institutes of Health, the direct healthcare costs attributable to overweight and obesity are now estimated to be $123 billion, or 9% of total U.S. healthcare costs. The cost of treating type 2 diabetes attributable to overweight and obesity is estimated to be $98 billion. The cost of treating heart disease attributable to overweight and obesity is estimated to be $8.8 billion, or 17% of the total healthcare costs for heart disease.”
Nationwide, obesity will cost employers $13 billion per year, reports the National Business Group on Health’s (NBGH) Institute on the Costs and Health Effects of Obesity. In addition, NBGH says obesity is annually associated with 39 million lost work days, 239 million restricted-activity days and 63 million physician visits. (http://www.wbgh.org/healthy/
UnumProvident advocates a number of best practices for employers to consider in helping to combat obesity:
About UnumProvident
UnumProvident (UNM) is the largest provider of group and individual disability income protection insurance in North America. Through its subsidiaries, UnumProvident Corporation insures more than 25 million people and paid $5.7 billion in total benefits to customers in 2003. With primary offices in Chattanooga, Tenn., and Portland, Maine, the company employs nearly 13,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit www.unumprovident.com.
UnumProvident is the marketing brand of UnumProvident Corporation’s insuring subsidiaries. Insurance products are underwritten and sold, and services provided by the subsidiaries of UnumProvident Corporation. Not all companies do business in all jurisdictions.