CommonHealth: Wellness Programs In The Workplace

In the past seven years, the number of Johnson & Johnson employees who smoke has dropped by more than two-thirds. The number of employees with high blood pressure has also dropped by more than a half. What's driving this company-wide health kick? Johnson & Johnson credits its wellness program with saving the manufacturer $250 million on health care costs over the past decade.

Gone are the days when wellness programs were viewed as a cushy extra for employees. With tax incentives and grants available under the recent federal health care legislation, U.S. companies can use wellness programs to minimize their rising health care costs.

And this spurred a growing trend among employers to not just offer incentives, but tie them to specific health outcomes — or apply surcharges when employees don't take part in particular programs.

Carey Goldberg, WBUR's CommonHealth co-host, joins Radio Boston to talk about this growing trend.

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