FOCUS ON PREVENTION | hot topic HEALTH SERVICES AT THE PITNEY BOWES WORLD HEADQUARTERS Maureen Fahy picks food from the salad bar in the cafeteria at the Pitney Bowes headquarters in Stamford, Conn. Due to the rising cost of healthcare, Pitney Bowes, a business services company, offers on-site clinics, exercise and other wellness programs as well as low-cost or free drugs for certain types of patients who work at the company. The result is lower benefit costs for employers and the company. State governments also offer incentives to get employees on the health bandwagon. Some states, like Indiana, are working with private enterprise to get people more active and promote a healthier lifestyle. Photo: © David Brabyn/Corbis
STATES TOUTING PREVENTION TO
BEND COST CURVE
27 CAPITOL IDEAS
by Mikel Chavers
» that we can do for prevention. But people who have chronic illness, that’s where we need to give a lot more attention and focus. If we can get them on prevention—we can totally turn our society around.” In fact, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a New Jersey-based nonprofit focusing on health policy, researchers believe that hundreds of thousands of lives could be saved if people just simply stopped smoking, lost weight, exercised regularly and ate a healthy diet.
JAN./FEB. 2010
Colorado Rep. Sara Gagliardi, a licensed practical nurse, teaches her dermatology patients the importance of wearing sunscreen, the signs and symptoms of cancer and how to recognize a questionable mole. That’s because as a nurse she believes in the power of prevention. And as a state legislator, she also believes preventive care has the power to keep people healthier and can improve health systems. “It’s key to everything,” Gagliardi said. “In every age group there’s a lot of great things
