Daily Health News Blog

Money talks, particularly when it comes to losing weight. In an effort to cut their expenses, companies have launched wellness programs that pay workers to lose weight and hopefully lower their health risks and time and money spent on care. “Weight loss is more fun and more successful if you offer individuals cash,” says David Roddenberry, CEO of wellness program HealthyWage.com. The obesity epidemic plaguing the country not only adds billions of dollars in costs to the nation’s health-care system, it also weighs on employees’ productivity. According to HealthyWage, workers dealing with obesity and other chronic health issues cost more than $153 billion a year in lost productivity due to absenteeism. Reduced productivity and the rising costs associated with health insurance, employers are increasingly looking for programs that will get workers fit and drive down health-care costs. Some programs offered by HealthyWage have the employees putting in the money to lose wei