[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 187 (Wednesday, November 15, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7259-S7260]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           WELLNESS HEARING WITH SURGEON GENERAL JEROME ADAMS

  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed 
in the Record a copy of my remarks at the Senate Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:


           WELLNESS HEARING WITH SURGEON GENERAL JEROME ADAMS

       Mr. ALEXANDER. Today we are holding a hearing with the 
     Surgeon General, Dr. Jerome Adams, to hear his priorities on 
     how to encourage people to lead healthier lives. Senator 
     Murray and I will each have an opening statement. Then we 
     will introduce Dr. Adams. After his testimony Senators will 
     each have five minutes of questions.
       When Dr. Adams and I met before his confirmation hearing, I 
     said to him that if, as Surgeon General, he threw himself at 
     one important problem with everything he has, he could have a 
     real impact on the lives of millions of Americans.
       At his confirmation hearing, he said, ``I would also make 
     wellness and community

[[Page S7260]]

     and employer engagement a centerpiece of my agenda if 
     confirmed. . . Our health starts in the communities where we 
     live, learn, work, play, and go to school.''
       Dr. Adams has said his first Surgeon General's Report will 
     focus on health and the economy.
       It makes sense for that to be his focus, because there is a 
     remarkable consensus that wellness--lifestyle changes like 
     eating healthier and quitting smoking--can prevent serious 
     illness and reduce health care costs.
       This is important because the United States spends about 
     $2.6 trillion treating chronic diseases. This accounts for 
     more than 84 percent of our health care costs.
       $2.6 trillion treating chronic diseases, 84 percent of our 
     health care costs.
       Today, Dr. Adams will talk to us about what local 
     communities, businesses and other organizations can do to 
     encourage people to live healthier lives, which will help 
     reduce health care spending on chronic diseases.
       The Cleveland Clinic has said if you achieve at least four 
     ``normal'' measures of good health, such as a healthy body 
     mass index and blood pressure, and you see a primary care 
     physician regularly and keep immunizations up to date, you 
     will avoid chronic disease about 80 percent of the time.
       At a hearing we held last month on wellness I said that it 
     is hard to think of a better way to make a bigger impact on 
     the health of millions of Americans than to connect the 
     consensus about wellness to the health insurance that 178 
     million people get on the job.
       One of our witnesses last month, Steve Burd, talked about 
     an employee wellness program he implemented while CEO of 
     Safeway that has reduced the biological age of employees by 
     four years.
       He said: ``Given that 70 percent of health care spending is 
     driven by behaviors, employers can have a powerful impact on 
     both employee health and healthcare costs. . .healthcare 
     costs continued to decline by 9 percent per year [at Safeway] 
     with no material changes to plan design. Safeway's health 
     actuaries reported this continued cost reduction was due 
     predominately to improved health status.''
       Many employers have developed similar wellness programs to 
     incentivize people to make healthier choices.
       These programs may reward behaviors such as exercising, 
     eating better or quitting smoking, or offer employees a 
     percentage off their insurance premiums for doing things like 
     maintaining a healthy weight or keeping their cholesterol 
     levels in check.
       Last month we heard that that while both employees and 
     employers benefit from lower health care costs, both also can 
     benefit in other ways when people live healthier lives.
       Michael Roizen the Chief Wellness Officer at the Cleveland 
     Clinic, told us, ``The culture of wellness at the Cleveland 
     Clinic has generated remarkable results that have led to 
     shared benefits--healthier, happier employees, as well as 
     lower costs for their self-funded insurance program, and 
     lower costs for our employees and for the communities and 
     patients we serve.''
       In other words, a healthier workplace translates to the 
     greater community being healthier.
       In recent years, a growing number of organizations and 
     communities have developed innovative programs to incentivize 
     individuals to engage in healthy behaviors.
       For example, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee partnered 
     with local, state, and private organizations to fund 
     community level initiatives across the state, such as 
     ``Fitness Zones'' in Chattanooga, programs in rural counties 
     to promote healthy habits, and an interactive elementary 
     school program to keep kids moving.
       An overall healthy community is more economically 
     productive--there are fewer workplace accidents, less 
     absenteeism, and a higher rate of engagement.
       At his confirmation hearing, Dr. Adams also said not all 
     national problems should have a response from Washington, 
     D.C.
       I agree--we don't get any smarter flying to Washington once 
     a week.
       Dr. Adam's motto as Surgeon General is ``better health 
     through better partnerships,'' and I hope this committee can 
     be one partner going forward.
       I look forward to hearing how community level partnerships 
     and engagement can lead to healthier individuals, higher 
     quality health care, and lower health care costs.

                          ____________________