Pay & Benefits

White House considers leaner, fitter federal workforce

Reforming workforce health care starts at home for the Chief Executive

Federal News Network Staff

May 13, 2009 9:40 am

2 min read

By Suzanne Kubota
Senior Internet Editor
FederalNewsRadio.com

Your fitness to serve as a civil servant may be about to be tied to your level of your fitness in general.

After holding a health care reform roundtable discussion at the White House on Tuesday, the Politco reports a White House statement says the Chief Executive “will direct the Office of Personnel Management to work with the Office of Health Reform, the National Economic Council, the Department of Labor, and the Office of Management and Budget to examine successful employer wellness and prevention practices that lower health care costs and improve employees’ health and to explore the feasibility of developing such a plan for federal employees and their workplaces.”

Representatives from hospitals, the insurance industry, medical device and pharmaceutical companies, labor and physicians came to the White House to discuss major steps being taken to lower health care costs across the board. Among them were Cecily Hall, director of U.S. Benefits for Microsoft, and the president and CEO of Safeway, Steve Burd.

Microsoft, recognized as one of Fortune’s 100 Best Places to Work, has a model obesity program which assigns employees to a primary care doctor, behavior health specialist, and nutritionist, and provides free meals consistent with diet recommendations to eat on site or to take home, reports Politico.

Safeway’s “Healthy Measure” program participants undergo screening tests (including cholesterol, blood pressure, and weight control), and employees who score well pay lower health premiums.

The possibility and probability of adapting some, or even all, of these ideas for federal employees has yet to be addressed by the Office of Personnel Management.

You can hear Director John Berry on this morning’s Your Turn with Mike Causey.

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On the Web:

White House – Coming Together, Bringing Down Costs (blog post)

White House – Remarks by the President on Reforming the Health Care System to Reduce Costs

Politico – President Obama wants skinnier federal employees