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“We all know that health-care costs in this country are expanding along with our waistlines, and there’s been much talk in recent years about how to spend less on better care. While policy makers are working at the national level, U.S. employers are trying at the company level to whittle the estimated $576 billion that they collectively lose each year—in lost productivity, health-care costs and disability payments—due to health problems among their employees,” according to Elizabeth O'Brien at MarketWatch.

“As a result, the $6 billion corporate-wellness market is booming, with programs to help employees eat less, exercise more, and generally do a better job of managing their health. In 2012, half of all employers with at least 50 employees offered such programs, and nearly half of those without a program said they planned to introduce one, according to a study earlier this year by the Rand Corp. These programs are typically subcontracted to third-party providers, and the employer doesn’t receive any individual employee’s health results.”

“For many companies, the key to cutting medical costs is helping employees to ‘manage' chronic health conditions—that is, to live healthily while keeping those conditions under control. Half of U.S. adults have at least one chronic condition, according to a report last week by the CEO Council on Health and Innovation, a group of business leaders. Boomers are more likely than their younger colleagues to struggle with the likes of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. And patients hit obstacles trying to manage them, ranging from a lack of motivation to misunderstandings about diet and medications, medical providers say.”