Time to Tune-Up Wellness Programs

The biggest challenge for President-elect Barack Obama may not be the economy or the war in the Middle East, but the battle to stop smoking.

Every year in January, people who have made New Year's resolutions involving healthy lifestyle changes board the weight loss and tobacco-free bandwagons as they fight to break addictions and improve the odds of a long life. Health clubs are awash in new members, diet plan and nicotine patch sales rise -- but for most people, those good intentions quickly fall by the wayside.

According to The New York Times, Obama's past efforts to give up cigarettes, which have resulted in spotty short-term success, match that of millions of other people. "Today, 21 percent of Americans smoke, down from 28 percent in 1988. Off-again-on-again smoking and serial quitting are common, as is the long-term use of nicotine gum and patches," write Denise Grady and Lawrence K. Altman, whose sources recommend that Obama attack the problem with counseling in addition to products such as nicotine patches and gum.

If Obama worked for a company with a targeted wellness plan in place to help employees quit permanently (especially a plan that includes counseling), his odds of success might improve. Businesses know that non-smokers save the company money; the number of companies offering cessation programs is rising even while businesses are cutting back on medical benefits to limit costs. According to the Times, federal health data show that spending as much as $900 to provide workers with nicotine patches at no cost, prescription drugs to reduce withdrawal symptoms, and telephone counseling sessions "can more than offset the estimated $16,000 or more in additional lifetime medical bills." Furthermore, smoking causes million of dollars of damages a year due to fires and non-smokers are generally more productive because they're likely to have more energy and tend to take fewer work breaks.

Still, companies that have recently drastically reduced their work force need to revisit their risk pool to assess whether the remaining employee population warrants medical benefit program add-ons such as targeted wellness programs, according to Sibson Consulting.

To me, an assessment should consider an often overlooked risk -- stress among the employees that survived layoffs, many of whom are worried about future job cuts. After all, stress is a non-smoker wannabe's worst enemy; someone who quits thanks to their employer's smoking cessation program is much more likely to fall off the wagon when times get tough, devaluing the company's best efforts.

Maybe the President Elect can find a night job with a good company.