Op-Ed: N.J. Must Address Chronic Disease Problem, 09/21/2008

The following op-ed was co-authored by CIANJ President John Galandak, and appeared in The Record on Sunday, September 21, 2008

N.J. must address chronic disease problem
Sunday, September 21, 2008
BY PHIL KIRSCHNER,| JOAN VERPLANCK| AND JOHN GALANDAK
SPECIAL TO THE RECORD

One fact about health care in America is irrefutable: Of the $2 trillion spent each year by families, businesses, governments, patients, labor unions and others, three out of every four dollars, or $1.5 trillion, is spent on chronic diseases, many of which are preventable. This is the root cause of today\'s health care cost crisis: the alarming escalation of preventable chronic diseases and the astronomical percentage of the health care dollar that is then required to treat them.

What is a preventable chronic disease? Among the more common chronic diseases are diabetes, certain cancers, heart disease, hypertension and emphysema. The fact is that many chronic disease cases (80 percent of heart disease and stroke, 80 percent of Type 2 diabetes, and 40 percent of cancers) can be prevented through simple lifestyle changes associated with three risk factors: poor diet, lack of exercise and smoking.

Today, chronic diseases are responsible for seven out of every 10 deaths in the U.S., killing 1.7 million Americans every year and costing $1.5 trillion in avoidable health care spending.

As stunning as these statistics are, they reveal the harsh truth about the underlying problem of our health care system: Attempts to reform health care in America will surely fail unless we address ways in which we can prevent chronic disease.

In New Jersey, we have reached a chronic disease crisis, with more than 4.6 million cases of chronic disease reported. This is having a devastating economic, social and emotional impact not only on chronic disease sufferers and their families, but also on employers, many of whom provide health coverage; government-run health programs; and taxpayers.

The Milken Institute, in a groundbreaking New Jersey study released in July, reported that the annual economic impact of the most common chronic diseases on New Jersey\'s families, business community and state economy is calculated to be an astonishing $39 billion in health care expenditures and lost productivity.

Unless something is done to prevent chronic disease, its economic burden on New Jersey will dramatically increase over the next 20 years to the point where state government, business, labor and families could become economically crippled by the financial demands of treatment.

The business community is very much aware of the dangers we face. That\'s why we have joined the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD), a national coalition of patients, providers, community organizations, business and labor groups and health policy experts that are committed to raising awareness of policies and practices that save lives and reduce health costs through more effective prevention and management of chronic disease.

PFCD spotlights many of the creative and effective wellness and prevention programs that New Jersey\'s business community and others might examine and consider adopting. A few examples:

* The Asheville Project: This program has improved the health of (and lowered the health care costs of) Asheville, N.C., city employees since 1996 by providing employee incentives for healthier lifestyles and by driving collaboration between patient employees and providers (www.aphafoundation.org/programs/Asheville_Project).

* Health Care University: This Pitney Bowes program improves employee health and lowers costs by providing disease prevention and management health services through on-site primary care clinics, wellness programs and a restructured pharmacy benefit program (healthproject.stanford.edu/koop/pitneybowes/description.html).

* Power to the Patient: Alegent HealthCare\'s program focuses on reducing annual increases in health care costs by providing 100 percent free preventive health care, provides employees incentives for healthy lifestyle changes, offers free health coaching and enrolls employees in Health Reimbursement or Health Savings accounts (powertothepatient.alegent.com).

* Mayors Wellness Campaign: This New Jersey program helps mayors and other key leaders develop and implement active-living initiatives in their communities in order to improve health and reduce the skyrocketing health care costs associated with obesity (mayorswellnesscampaign.org).

The Milken Institute study demonstrates the impact that prevention-based programs like these would have on New Jersey. Working together, we can prevent 1.1 million cases of chronic disease over the next 15 years, and thus sharply reduce future costs. By 2023, an estimated $31 billion in savings would come not only from reduced treatment spending, but also from gains in productivity.

The good news is that we can prevent most chronic disease from developing in the first place, saving untold lives, significant amounts of money, and improving the quality of life for patients and families in New Jersey and across the country. Federal and state elected officials must work with families, labor unions, local communities, patient advocates, faith-based organizations, businesses and health leaders to ensure that we address the underlying problem in health care: chronic, but preventable, disease.

Kirschner is president of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association. Verplanck is president of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. Galandak is president of the Commerce & Industry Association of New Jersey.