Businesses can promote better health for American workers

By Muhtar Kent

While the health care reform debate continues in Washington, D.C., U.S. businesses are working overtime to improve their own health care programs in order to protect their employees and keep their companies productive and competitive.

Today, the Coca-Cola Company provides employer-sponsored health care in the United States for more than 28,000 Americans annually. We believe that employer-sponsored plans, like ours, allow for the customization and flexibility our employees and their dependents need based on their different stages of life.

In principle, we are a strong supporter of the Obama administration’s desire to reform health care. We believe every American should have affordable, high-quality health care. Health and access to high-quality health care affects the well-being of our employees and consumers, the productivity of our people and business, and ultimately the economic competitiveness of our company and the American economy.

I firmly believe that business has to play a key role in shaping health care reform, and we must do so by collaborating with government and civil society leadership. More than 60 percent of Americans today receive their health care through employer-sponsored programs. Businesses’ leadership, especially in promoting wellness and disease prevention, can have a huge and positive impact on American society.

Seventy-five percent of America’s $2 trillion health care expenditure is used to treat people with highly preventable, chronic diseases. Disease prevention, wellness and health education programs, properly administered, more than pay for themselves in the long run, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They must be the foundation for any future reform efforts.

Studies have shown that work site health promotion programs help reduce sick leave absenteeism by 28 percent and health care costs by 26 percent. In addition, such programs have helped trim workers’ compensation and disability management claims costs by 30 percent. We all know that there is no such thing as a “one size fits all” health plan. Most Americans are worried about their health and the cost of their health care. They want the necessary resources to make informed decisions.

The Coca-Cola Company is on a journey to modernize our benefits, drive out unnecessary costs and empower our people through effective programs that allow them to take ownership of their individual and family health. We’ve taken our lead from the wisdom of Benjamin Franklin — an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. We cover over 80 percent of the costs for our employees and their families. We also encourage all of our U.S. employees to create goals around wellness, in both their family and community. We will provide preventive care and screenings at 100 percent of the cost and offer employees a savings of $120 off their medical plan contributions by participating in confidential wellness assessments and the opportunity to earn an additional $180 by participating in a series of health and wellness activities.

We are also adding financial planning services and education to assist employees in planning for future financial needs, including health care and saving for retirement and college expenses. Just recently, we added an on-site employee assistance program to our headquarters office in Atlanta.

One great example of industry, government and community leaders working together effectively involved the creation of the National School Beverage Guidelines — a working partnership involving the beverage industry, The William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Associations. In the two years since implementation, there has been a 58 percent decrease in beverage calories and a 45 percent decrease in full-calorie soft drinks shipped to schools, with more than 80 percent of schools in compliance.

Communities must be part of the solution as well. The Coca-Cola Company has a long history of being actively engaged in the communities where our employees and consumers work and live. For decades, The Coca-Cola Company has supported community programs ranging from youth soccer and Little League baseball to a full range of high-school athletics.

We are part of the Healthy Weight Coalition (HWC), an industry partnership started nearly 18 months ago that is aimed at reducing obesity in the United States. It was founded by a group of food and beverage industry leaders who were united by a belief that our industry could — and should — do more. The Coca-Cola Company has adopted HWC’s pillars to create new opportunities for the consumer to make smart, informed decisions. These opportunities include product innovation, portion-sizing options, labeling to increase caloric transparency and improved in-store merchandising.

Globally, we have nearly 500 brands inclusive of more than 3,000 beverage products. More than 750 of these beverages are low- and no-calorie products, accounting for more than 23 percent of our 2008 unit case sales. In the past four years we have nearly doubled the number of low- and no-calorie beverages we offer.

Health care reform can only be achieved by creating sustainable solutions that touch all aspects of American life — in the workplace, at home and out in the communities. Business, government and community leaders have a unique opportunity — and indeed a mandate from the American public — to work together to create comprehensive, affordable health care reform that keeps American workers and their families strong while protecting and enhancing the nation’s competitive position.

We must not waste this opportunity.

Muhtar Kent is chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company.