Some basic observations about how healthcare has changed over the last century can help companies evaluate how effectively they are contributing, not only to alleviating some basic problems with today's health care system, but also empowering employees to take better control over their health and their bodies.

Medical experts agree that over the past hundred years, the focus of health care has changed from environmental conditions such as communicative disease to “chronic diseases”, including hypertension, diabetes, and coronary conditions. In addition, the burdens on the healthcare system have grown as health care costs skyrocket, mostly from somewhat preventable conditions like those mentioned above.

The response to these situations has been frustratingly slow. Pvt. health insurers, focused on creating maximum profit out of health care related situations, chose to allow preventable disease to place a burden on the system, rather than incentivizing preventative care that would have alleviated some of the problem.

So who is going to respond to the high cost of today's healthcare? As pointed out, the insurers have no incentive to make sure people are healthy, since they tend to profit from high-cost procedures when preventative disease reaches its end stages. It makes more sense, in our capitalist system, that it's going to be those who are buying healthcare who are going to address the problem first.

What this means is that businesses and companies who find themselves paying out of control health costs due to our employer-based insurance system will eventually wake up and realize that the best way to protect their profits is to encourage fitness and preventative care for employees.

That's when we may begin to see things change. Already, many employers are instituting incentive programs for common sense prevention of chronic disease. Personal fitness is the top of this list. Personal fitness routines prevent a variety of diseases and conditions, and are not costly to institute. Most of the cost is for the minimal equipment or facilities access needed. However, most of the cost of getting employees healthier will be in incentivizing the mostly free activities that they can choose to practice. Company health and wellness incentives are definitely the way of the future in addressing some of the biggest problems that both individuals and companies face regarding the cost of healthcare.

So what do these incentives look like? Many companies choose to offer financial incentives for better employee health in terms of reductions in gym membership rates, where a company contracts with a gym to offer free or lower-cost membership. Other incentives can include free fitness gear such as shoes and apparel, or helpful home or gym items such as balance balls and cushions, many dumbbells, jump ropes, or other simple aerobic or weight training items. Companies can also employ yoga or Pilates professionals to provide free training.

Many of these companies who have seen fit to invest in incentives like the ones mentioned above have realized a reduction in health insurance costs over the long term. The results prove that incentivizing fitness is a good way to take responsibility for what is “broken”in today's healthcare system.

 By Steve, FitnessFuture Expert