Save Award 2010 Ideas

Enroll all employees into the VA Health Care System, except for persons whose residence is geographically challenged to travel to a VA Medical Center. Those persons would remain covered by FEHB. Then, a portion of the projected savings from individual agencies' health insurance benefit costs could be redirected to the VA to enhance its services, where needed, for both our veterans and government employees. It would save... more »

Discontinue the practice of serving sodas and junk food at official functions, e.g., picnics, receptions, etc. Serve only healthy, nutritional foods and beverages. This will reduce healthcare costs, illness and sick leave. It will also enhance productivity and encourage healthful living.

More and more studies have shown that healthy employees are productive employees, yet with the amount of time we spend working, commuting, family, etc. many Feds have limited time to devote to wellness activities and fitness. In the military, working out three times a week (during duty hours) is encouraged and often enforced by many unit commanders.

Allot time during the regular workday to allow employees to go to that... more »

Diet related illnesses among federal employees cost the government billions in healthcare expenses and lost productivity, yet federal workplaces actively enable poor dietary choices with junk-filled vending machines and unhealthy cafeteria offerings.

 

Efforts to limit junk food availability in schools have shown positive results. Similar measures should be adopted for the federal workplace.

CMS hosts provider quality forums where provider groups that excel in certain areas (geographical or specialty) and have excellent patient outcomes present best practices at national quality forums. All provider groups are welcome to attend, however, the focus should be on those provider groups who may be struggling in a given area. Ideas for forum subject matter can be submitted by agency employees who see a need for... more »

Military dependent child medical care - make use of the great pediatric subspecialty medical resources that the military has. Stress the importance of moving families of children with complicated medical problems like cancer to sites of military treatment facilities that can provide full-service treatment with truly personalized care and aid in the unique issues of the military family. A child with leukemia requires... more »

Provide Government personal one quarter an hour to stretch or lightly exercise to provide a way to get started for the day. This morning exercise would get our blood flowing and make us more productive first thing in the morning. This action may even help us become more healthy.

Research has shown that a soda tax will reduce consumption of unhealthy beverages. A quarter tax on carbonated beverages and possibly other high calorie foods could be used to increase funding for other wellness programs and reduce healthcare costs. Federal employees are often not healthy and they can afford such a tax. They would, of course, be welcome to bring in such food items from outside federal government facilities... more »

Upgrade government cafeteria food choices to HEALTHY. Stop selling junk food, sodas, high fat and high cholesterol foods in government cafeterias and vending machines. This will improve health, reduce sickness, reduce healthcare costs, and reduce health insurance premiums.

I would like to encourage the DoD, and all agencies under OPM to expand its emphasis on improving and encouraging health and wellness plans within agencies. The use of DoD and OPM directives to make broad statements about general health and wellness programs does not encourage agencies to think ‘outside of the box.’ My recommendation would be to create a ‘toolkit’ of programs that individual agencies could use, with OPM... more »

2/3 of Americans are overweight or obese and the estimated cost of obesity is $147 billion per year. Poor diet and lack of activity are the second leading cause of preventable death in the United States, and gaining on smoking (number 1 killer). Clearly, our food environment is not conducive to health and costing a fortune.
The default food choices in most government agencies are direct contributors to poor diets.
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Reduce health care costs by encouraging employees to lead healthy lifestyles. Create an incentive program for individuals interested in biking or walking to work, joining a local fitness center, or purchasing a pass to local parks and hiking trails. Promote healthy living and benefits will be seen in all aspects of government!

Simply by installing exercise equipment in all government facilities, we can have a healthier workforce. Most federal positions require a large amount of time sitting at a desk in front of a computer. By having an exercise room in every building, employees can work out stress, lose weight and regain a healthier life style. Perhaps work this room into the next building lease.

Self insure for health care. Why go through blue cross blue shield and other horribly over priced health care providers? The government has a massive work force which could easily sustain a health care program without the costly middlemen and brokers like bluecross/blueshield. The government self insures rental cars, why not health care?

'Researchers at Harvard say that taking a power nap for an hour in the afternoon can totally refresh you. They say that by the time you wake up you'll feel so good, you'll be able to start looking for a new job.' ~Jay Leno quote.

 

Taking a power nap to refresh the brain and be efficient in your job or find a new job. Be creative, reponsible, happy and healthy.