More Bad News For Comp Systems

Adult obesity, which has been blamed in part for increasing workers' compensation costs, has increased in 37 states in the past year, according to a new study which found no areas of decrease.

The findings were contained in the fifth annual “F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America, 2008″ report (http://healthyamericans.org/reports/obesity2008) from the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).

According to the study, rates rose for a second consecutive year in 24 states and for a third consecutive year in 19 states. No state saw a decrease.

An announcement concerning the report said although many promising policies have emerged to promote physical activity and good nutrition in communities, they are not being adopted or implemented at levels needed to turn around this health crisis.

Robert Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information, who has warned of the impact of obesity on the workers' comp system for years, said he had just cited figures from the report in a talk to the American Association of State Compensation Insurance Funds.

“The point here is that the workforce mirrors the population, and that means the unhealthy population is leading to an increasingly unhealthy workforce,” which drives up medical treatment costs, he said.

“It's a multibillion cost driver in workers' compensation. It drives up the severity of claims; it drives up indemnity, increasing time away from work; it has a negative impact on productivity and has effects beyond the workplace,” said Mr. Hartwig.

It was the consensus of an AASCIF executive panel that it is “not politically possible” for comp insurers to take a factor such as obesity and use it in setting employers' rates, he related.

Among other points in the report:

o More than 25 percent of adults are obese in 28 states, which is an increase from 19 states last year.

o More than 20 percent of adults are obese in every state except Colorado.

o An estimated two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese, and an estimated 23 million children are either overweight or obese.

o Rates of Type 2 diabetes, a disease typically associated with obesity, grew in 26 states last year. Four states now have diabetes rates that are above 10 percent, and all 10 states with the highest rates of diabetes and hypertension are in the South.

The latest survey results showed Mississippi with the highest rate of obesity and Colorado with the lowest rate. Eleven of the 15 states with the highest obesity rates are in the South. Northeastern and Western states continue to have the lowest obesity rates.