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3 Goals: Healthcare Changes to the American Families Plan Could Create Affordable Healthcare

October 28, 2021September 15, 2021 by Houston Healthcare

Hand writing What You Need To Know with marker, business concept background

3 Goals: Healthcare Changes to the American Families Plan & Health Savings Plans Could Make Medical Expenses More Affordable.

The new administration, like all of them, has plans for Americans and their healthcare. On this edition of the podcast Dr. Steven Goldstein, who founded the Houston Healthcare Initiative, will get us all better acquainted with what those proposals are and explore other possible ways for how healthcare can be fixed. The Biden administration has three goals.

3 Healthcare Changes are Goals for the Biden Administration. — *There are three healthcare priorities for the Biden administration plus one more that Dr. Steven Goldstein suggests.*

To listen to the podcast, click this link: https://soundcloud.com/harold-nicoll/three-biden-administration-healthcare-goals-plus-one-not-included.

The Covid 19 Response

Of the three goals, first is the Covid-19 pandemic response. Part of the goal is to prevent over capacity of limited hospital beds and critical care space during spikes in the virus outbreak, like those occurring now. Others include the ability to establish temporary hospitals and better ways to track Covid surges via technology. Making telehealth options more widely available, tasking all relevant federal agencies to set up temporary hospitals and getting the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to develop real-time tracking dashboards to better predict when surges will happen, where they are and other details needed to better inform healthcare professionals about the evolution of the pandemic.

The Affordable Care Act

The second of the three priorities has to do with the Affordable Care Act, or as it is more popularly known, ObamaCare.

The idea is to reduce medical costs for the American public. As part of a separate pandemic relief bill, there is $34 billion to help Americans who buy insurance from the health plan marketplaces that were created by Obama Care now through 2022. Those who know about it state that this would help lower and middle-income Americans who have fallen through the cracks of the government’s eligibility requirements for ObamaCare subsidies. It would also help people who choose policies with lower premiums and higher deductibles. There is also assistance for the unemployed.

Medicare Reform

One of the more visible proposals is to increase the age of people who are eligible for Medicare from the current 65 to 60 years of age.

“While we can think of these as beneficial to society, there is a considerable cost that comes along with it,” Dr. Goldstein told his listeners. “Instead of transferring more money to people, there are other ways to use existing healthcare payment strategies that will benefit everyone.” So why not fund Health Savings Accounts (HSA’s) with this same amount of money? It is tax-advantaged when received, if the money earns interest while in the health savings account the account owner can keep it and be prepared to pay cash for more health-related expenses. So what is a health savings plan?

Prescription Drugs

The Trump Administration launched a “Transparency in Coverage” ruling in December of 2020 that required health insurers to disclose current drug prices and provide patients with personalized cost estimates. The Biden Administration hopes to increase these efforts by repealing existing laws that prevent Medicare from negotiating lower prices with drug corporations. “Plenty of people believe that the government already uses its mass buying power with Medicare to negotiate better rates,” Dr. Goldstein said. “That is not the case.”

Health Savings Accounts

The Health Savings Account. or HSA, is a type of savings account that is used for medical expenses. HSA’s were established for those with high deductible health insurance coverage. HSAs and high-deductible health plans were created to help control health care costs. The idea is that people will spend their health care dollars more wisely if they’re using their own money. The money deposited by individuals into their HSA account is not taxed.

Further, HSAs feature a triple-tax benefit: money you contribute to your HSA can be written off on your taxes and thus reduce your income tax bill; money in your HSA grows and compounds assuming investments rise. All is tax-free over time; and when HSA money is withdrawn for qualified medical expenses, no tax is paid on the withdrawal. It is owned by the individual so that he or she can pay their healthcare costs. These include everything from doctor visits to blood tests, paid for with cash from the health savings accounts.

As always, information about this and more than 50 other podcasts can be heard and read about at the website, www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org.

About The Houston Healthcare Initiative

How Long Term Pandemic Stress, and Brain Changes Equals Weight Gain

October 27, 2021August 30, 2021 by Houston Healthcare

Photo courtesy of Very Well Mind. — **How Long Term Pandemic Stress, and Brain Changes Equals Weight Gain.** In a study published in Molecular Psychiatry, researchers found that chronic stress results in long-term changes in the brain.3 These changes, they suggest, might help explain why those who experience chronic stress are also more prone to mood and anxiety disorders later on in life. Photo published in ‘Very Well Mind.’

As covered in the U.K.’s Daily Mail…

How Long Term Pandemic Stress, and Brain Changes Equals Weight Gain

August 30, 2021– Human brains may not be wired for long term stress. On his most recent podcast, well known neurologist and founder of the Houston Healthcare Initiative, Dr. Steven Goldstein, discussed the biological reasons and brain chemistry changes that in part led to the weight gain so many experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown and how long term pandemic stress and brain changes equals weight gain

The Houston Healthcare Initiative podcast can be heard on : Apple Podcasts, Audacy, iHeartRadio, ListenNotes, Spotify, Stitcher, Backtracks, PodbayFM, and SoundCloud. This and all other editions of the Houston Healthcare Initiative podcast can also be heard on www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org.

While individuals ultimately have responsibility for what they eat, drink and how often they exercise there are physiological reasons why so many Americans put-on weight during the lockdown.

Brain Chemistry and Weight Gain

When stressed, the brain releases chemicals that make speed and strength available for a short but very intense time. Adrenaline is a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands, increasing rates of blood circulation, breathing, and carbohydrate metabolism, preparing muscles for exertion. But when released over long periods of time those same chemicals demand a lot more brain fuel which causes individuals to eat more and more.

Automatic Brain Chemicals

There are other neurotransmitters like: serotonin, dopamine, and melatonin.

Melatonin in the body lowers at the time of the flight or fight response. Serotonin regulates emotions, appetite, and digestion. Low levels of serotonin increase anxiety and can change a person’s eating habits. Dopamine – another feel-good neurotransmitter – regulates goal-oriented motivation. Dwindling levels of dopamine can translate into lower motivation to exercise, maintain a healthy lifestyle or perform daily tasks. When people are under stress, they also produce less of the sleep hormone melatonin, leading to trouble sleeping.

The Worst and Most Preventable Co-Morbidity

The pandemic lockdown made the existing epidemic of obesity much worse. The American Psychological Association’s “Stress in America” poll, conducted in late February 2021, found that 42 percent of people surveyed reported they were heavier than the previous year. People in a separate survey reportedly gained an average of 29 pounds during the pandemic, with 10 percent gaining more than 50.

How Obesity Makes Covid-19 Worse

The Centers For Disease Control (CDC) states that Obesity is linked to impaired immune function.
Obesity decreases lung capacity and reserve and can make ventilation more difficult.
A study of COVID-19 cases suggests that risks of hospitalization, intensive care unit admission, invasive mechanical ventilation, and death are higher with increasing BMI.
- The increased risk for hospitalization or death was particularly pronounced in those under age 65.
More than 900,000 adult COVID-19 hospitalizations occurred in the United States between the beginning of the pandemic and November 18, 2020.
Models estimate that 271,800 (30.2%) of these hospitalizations were attributed to obesity.

In a time when many things are beyond the control of American citizens, eating more vegetables, fruit, and lean meat in place of less nutritious options is something that can be controlled.

About The Houston Healthcare Initiative

Pandemic Lockdown Weight Gain & the Medical Reasons for it

October 27, 2021August 11, 2021 by Houston Healthcare

Could the coronavirus pandemic exacerbate obesity wrbm large

It’s not all your fault, it’s evolution…

Pandemic Lockdown Weight Gain & the Medical Reasons for it. At a time when Americans should have been focused on their health, as a population they were anything but. During the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown the average American gained two pounds a month, according to a study published in the The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA Network Open).

But the reasons for this trend were the result of brain chemistry that evolved in humans over the millennia, according to well respected neurologist, Dr. Steven Goldstein, founder of the Houston Healthcare Initiative. He described these on his regular podcast that can be heard on Apple Podcasts, Audacy, Houston Healthcare Initiative, iHeart, Podcast Addict, Podbean, Backtracks, Soundcloud, and just about anywhere podcasts can be heard.

Stress & More Stress

Dr. Goldstein told his audience that the main reason for the weight gain was related to stress. “The main reason is stress, especially given the really bad news about the seriousness of the pandemic and the controversies about different treatments early on,” he told his listeners. “That was stress of a long duration which exacerbated the physiological accompaniments of stress.”

Fight or Flight Responses

As part of the ‘fight or flight’ response, the human brain goes on high alert. To maintain a high state of alertness requires more energy for the brain in the form of calories. “Heightened states of stress and anxiety like this require more calories to keep the brain on high alert, Dr. Goldstein stated. “We eat sugar to get a boost of energy. Sugar gets converted to energy faster but does not last long, requiring more sugar. It is a cycle that is unhealthy short term, but really bad long term.”

Long Term Fear of the Unknown as part of Pandemic Lockdown Weight Gain & the Medical Reasons for it

On top of that stress was the unknown. No one living had ever experienced anything like the Covid-19 pandemic and closure of practically everything. According to Dr. Goldstein, not knowing was a huge problem for the American psyche. Research shows that the unknown makes people more stressed than when they know something is about to happen. “In late March, April, and May of last year we really didn’t know what we were dealing with, in terms of how contagious the Covid-19 virus was or how potentially fatal it might be,” Dr. Goldstein said. “Obviously then, the unknowns of the virus and the dramatic worldwide lock downs were things none of us had any experience with and that is the perfect recipe for stress, anxiety and the overeating that accompanies both.”

To Flee or Not to Flee

Stress like this is in reaction to the ‘fight or flight’ response that is hard-wired into the consciousness of humans. According to the web site Psychology Tools, the fight or flight response is ‘an automatic physiological reaction to an event that is perceived as stressful or frightening. The perception of threat activates the sympathetic nervous system and triggers an acute stress response that prepares the body to fight or flee.’ When the duration of this automatic response is months or even over an entire year, part of the evidence that Americans endured all this stress is registered on the scale.

Brain Chemistry and the Pandemic Lockdown Weight Gain & the Medical Reasons for it

So what in the human psyche links eating with stress? “Humans evolved such that when faced with stress, the body does what it must to keep the brain on high alert,” Dr. Goldstein reported. “It decreases levels of some hormones and brain chemicals to discourage behaviors that won’t help in an urgent situation, and it increases other hormones that will.” Dr. Goldstein added more details, “our ancestors had to outrun predators and other humans or be ready to fight them. Thus, we evolved to release adrenaline in response to the fight or flight response. From an evolutionary perspective, that stress responses are tuned to environmental uncertainty suggests that they gave people a better chance at survival, depending on who or what was chasing you.”

A Gut Feeling

Dr. Goldstein also explained that there was a connection between the brain and the stomach. “The brain is connected to the gut through a two-way communication system called the vagus nerve,” he said. “When you are stressed, your body inhibits the signals that travel through the vagus nerve and slows down the digestive process.” Eating for comfort can be a natural response to stress, but when combined with the lower motivation to exercise and consumption of low-nutrient, calorie-dense food, people can and did gain weight.

About the Houston Healthcare Initiative

The Number of Primary Care Doctors is Shrinking, and That is Really Bad News

October 27, 2021July 20, 2021 by Houston Healthcare

Primary care shrinking — Access to primary care physicians is a matter of the number of doctors who choose to pursue primary care as a career. Pay for those roles is lower than it is for most specialists and no surprise, fewer are choosing to go into this important part of the healthcare profession.

On the Houston Healthcare Initiative Podcast…

The Number of Primary Care Doctors is Shrinking, and That is Really Bad News

July 20, 2021 – The Number of Primary Care Doctors is Shrinking. An important contributor to the health of Americans is shrinking and the effects on the overall health of people in this country is and will continue to be negatively impacted. This is the subject of the latest edition of the Houston Healthcare Initiative Podcast.

Lower Pay

Fewer medical school graduates are choosing primary care because it pays significantly less than other specialties. Worse still, a lower number of primary care doctors is linked to 85 deaths every day, according to a study published by the National Academy of Sciences. Can primary care doctors make more money? “Under the current system of payment via employer funded health insurance it will be challenging to make that case,” Dr. Goldstein said. “But there may be a chance for new primary care doctors to ignore most of the insurance companies and their accompanying rules and work on a cash basis.”

Cash Only Please

Even patients who have their own health insurance can often save themselves money by paying cash. Doctors will not have to hire staff to process insurance claims, hassle with them over payment or non-payments. Patients save money on premiums and the doctors have fewer expenses. Patients pay less, doctors keep more of the fees because of lower expenses.

Covid Pandemic Bankrupts Many Practices

In addition to a shortage of practicing doctors, primary care visits declined significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Add to that a good number of primary care practices were not able to access federal funds and relief and went under. “If these trends continue, it will have a very negative impact,” Dr. Steven Goldstein told his listeners. “Regular visits to the primary care or family doctor allows that physician the chance to know his or her patients better. What are their medical histories, prescribed medication, allergies, or family histories that could affect a diagnosis? These are details that the primary care doctor will know because he or she has a history with patients.”

What Difference Does It Make?

A single visit to a primary care doctor makes a difference for the patient. “When you get sick, that doctor knows how to treat you,” Dr. Goldstein said. Primary care is a health care component where an increased supply is associated with better population health and more equitable outcomes. “For this reason, primary care is a common good, which makes the strength and quality of the country’s primary care services, or its lack, a public concern.”

About the Houston Healthcare Initiative Podcast The Houston Healthcare Initiative podcast with Dr. Steven Goldstein is an information vehicle for people who want to know all medical options for themselves and are interested in reforming the healthcare industry. To hear the podcast go to: SoundCloud, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Backtracks, LibSyn, or the website at www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org. Dr. Goldstein insists that for the health and welfare of the American public, the congress must pass reforms that limit the influence of the pharmaceutical industry and its lobby.

Healthcare Payment Reform is Critical to Improving Primary Care

October 27, 2021July 14, 2021 by Houston Healthcare

Backs of doctors — Doctors are leaving the primary care practice in numbers that lead to 85 deaths per day. Better pay will retain more for this important healthcare function.

Access to and paying for healthcare is a topic that Dr. Goldstein talks about a lot on the podcast and this one is no exception. But in this case access to primary care is a matter of the number of doctors who choose to pursue primary care as a career. Pay for those roles is lower than it is for most specialists. A lower number of primary care doctors are linked to 85 deaths every day according to a study published by the National Academy of Sciences. In addition to a shortage of practicing doctors, primary care visits declined significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Add to that a good number of primary care practices were not able to access federal funds and relief and went under. How can we manage all this? For answers we turn to respected neurologist and the founder of the Houston Healthcare Initiative, Dr. Steven Goldstein.

Listen to the Houston Healthcare Initiative podcast about primary care physicians here. Healthcare Reform is Critical to Retain Primary Care Docotrs

UnitedHealthcare and the non-emergency emergency… Who Decides If You Need To Visit The Emergency Room?

October 27, 2021June 23, 2021 by Houston Healthcare

UnitedHealthcare and the non-emergency emergency…

Who Decides If You Need To Visit The Emergency Room?

On the latest edition of the Houston Healthcare Initiative podcast, respected neurologist and Houston Healthcare Initiative founder Dr. Steven Goldstein discusses the proposed UnitedHealthcare policy of after the fact review and in some cases possible denial of some emergency room visits. The Houston Healthcare Initiative podcast can be heard on: SoundCloud, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Backtracks, LibSyn, Soundcloud, or the website at www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org.

Declaring the Emergency, a Non-Emergency

UnitedHealthcare is the nation’s largest health care insurer. In early June 2021 UnitedHealthcare announced that it would change how they assess emergency department claims, and thus allow ‘United’ to retroactively deny claims it deemed “non-emergent” or not an emergency. The aim is for the insurance company and their customers to save money, but others say the consequences could be more costly or even deadly. The new policy was originally scheduled to begin on July 1, 2021 but after a wave of criticism from among others, the American College of Emergency Physicians, United backed off and later said they would wait until the pandemic was past to make a decision about this decision.

Bad Policy With Usual Solutions Tried

Like the American College of Emergency Physicians Dr. Goldstein also believes this policy is unwise. “The answer is not to retroactively deny payment for ER care already rendered,” he told his listeners. “What this does is force the hospitals to refuse care for “non-emergency care” as defined by UnitedHealthcare. However, this is not practical because the hospital is more afraid of a potential lawsuit if a patient is refused care and has a poor outcome as a result. The patient then will be stuck with a large bill that cannot be paid.”

Dr. Goldstein states this is another example of an insurance company trying to “manage care.” “They (insurance companies) see a problem, namely they think that Emergency Room services are over-utilized and think they can manage the problem,” Dr. Goldstein said. “They try their usual method of operation and simply deny payment.”

On The Other Hand

UnitedHealthcare claims there are big problems with the misuse of emergency rooms which costs the U.S. healthcare system roughly $32 billion annually. UnitedHealthcare states that misuse typically manifests as patients seek out costly care for minor ailments that could be addressed through other avenues like an urgent care type of clinic. According to the UnitedHealthcare web site, “two-thirds of hospital ED visits annually by privately insured individuals in the U.S. – 18 out of 27 million** – are avoidable.”

Does UnitedHealthcare Have A Point?

Dr. Goldstein stated that United had a point “if the point is that healthcare administered in an emergency room is too expensive.” But he also point out, “UnitedHealthcare negotiated the prices they pay with the hospitals. If it is too expensive, why did they negotiate such a high price?”

About the Houston Healthcare Initiative Podcast

SoundCloud, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Backtracks, LibSyn or the website at

www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org.

Dr. Goldstein insists that for the health and welfare of the American public, the congress must pass reforms that limit the influence of the pharmaceutical industry and its lobby.

Healthcare and Nanotechnology

October 27, 2021June 14, 2021 by Houston Healthcare Support

Nanotechnology concerns the manipulation of materials so small that they are on the molecular or even subatomic level. The new technology, according to SciDev.Net, has enormous implications for the practice of medicine.

Healthcare and Nanotechnology

For example, people who are given drugs to combat cancer do not experience the entire dose at the site of the tumor. This fact is one reason why chemotherapy can be such a stress for the human body, as healthy cells are destroyed along with the tumor.

However, drugs can be carried to the site of a tumor using nanoparticles as carriers, attacking only the cancer cells and leaving the rest of the body alone. Nanotechnology means that people suffering from cancer can see higher remission rates with far less stress on the rest of their bodies. The FDA has approved the first generation of cancer drugs that use nanotechnology.

Nanotechnology has also been used to ensure early detection of diseases such as HIV and cancer. Something called quantum dots has been used successfully to detect a variety of diseases, including tuberculosis and malaria.

Even vaccine development, a matter of great concern in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic, is benefiting from nanotechnology. Aerosol and patch-delivered vaccines are being tested using nanoparticles as a delivery system. Even more conventional injectable vaccines have proven more potent when the inactive virus is delivered by a nanoparticle.

How can this new form of nanotechnology-based medicine be made more widely available, especially in the developing world, where diseases that are rare in the developed world are still common?

In any event, nanotechnology is enabling a new science of precision medicine, in which diseases are diagnosed more quickly and are then dealt with, resulting in more beneficial outcomes, increased lifespans, and quality of life. With proper investments, nanotechnology can decrease the cost of healthcare in the long term by making sick people well more quickly and with greater frequency.

For more information contact us.

How To ‘Hack’ Your Health Savings Account

October 27, 2021June 9, 2021 by Houston Healthcare

How To ‘Hack’ Your Health Savings Account

On the latest edition of the Houston Healthcare Initiative podcast, respected Houston based neurologist Dr. Steven Goldstein describes how people can best use the often-overlooked benefit known as the Health Savings Account.

The Health Savings Account, or HSA, is a type of savings account that is used for medical expenses. Congress established them in 2003 for those with high deductible health insurance. It is a way to pay cash for routine medical care with pretax dollars. Because the HSA requires a high deductible health insurance account, routine healthcare expenses are not covered, but can be paid for by the HSA. HSA’s are potentially a good value for those who can take advantage.

The High Deductible Health Insurance Plan

A high deductible insurance plan is one where the deductible is higher than with other policies. The ‘deductible’ is the amount the patient has to pay out of pocket before the insurance kicks in. A high deductible is usually between $3,000 – $10,000. “Of course, the higher the deductible; the lower the premium,” Dr. Goldstein told his listeners.

Who Should Consider an HSA?

First, who is this not for? “If you are already sickly and have $5-10,000 in medical expenses every year, the high deductible policy with HSA is probably not for you,” Dr. Goldstein said. “The time to start a high deductible plan with HSA is when you are young and well. Even if you had $10,000 in expenses in one year, it is highly unlikely these expenses would continue every year.”

Tax Free Deposits

The money deposited into the HSA account is not taxed. Many companies contribute to an employee’s HSA to encourage its use. Further, HSAs feature a triple-tax benefit: money the employee contributes to the HSA can be written off on taxes and thus reduce an income tax bill. “Money in your HSA grows tax free, Dr. Goldstein reported. “When you withdraw money for qualified medical expenses, no tax is paid on the withdrawal. However, if you withdraw money for non-medical expenses, you do pay tax as well as a penalty.”

About the Houston Healthcare Initiative Podcast

The Houston Healthcare Initiative podcast with Dr. Steven Goldstein is an information vehicle for people who want to know all medical options for themselves and are interested in reforming the healthcare industry. To hear the podcast go to: SoundCloud, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Backtracks, LibSyn, or the website at www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org. Dr. Goldstein insists that for the health and welfare of the American public, the congress must pass reforms that limit the influence of the pharmaceutical industry and its lobby. Houston Healthcare Initiative seeks to change the way people think about healthcare. Find healthcare pricing and local provider rates!

Five Numbers That Could Reform Health Care

October 27, 2021May 31, 2021 by Houston Healthcare Initiative

Five Numbers That Could Reform Healthcare

With over 40 years of health care and management experience, Randy Oostra President and CEO of Promedica presents at TEDxTraverseCity 2020. Randy Oostra, DM, FACHE (63), is the President and Chief Executive Officer of ProMedica, a not-for-profit mission-based, integrated health and well-being organization headquartered in Toledo, Ohio. The $7 billion organization serves communities in 28 states. It offers acute and ambulatory care, an insurance company with a dental plan, and post-acute and academic business lines. The organization has more than 56,000 employees, 13 hospitals, 2,600 physicians and advanced practice providers with privileges, 900+ healthcare providers employed by ProMedica Physicians, a health plan, and more than 400 assisted living facilities, skilled nursing and rehabilitation centers, memory care communities, outpatient rehabilitation clinics, and hospice and home health care agencies.

Randy has 40 years of health care and management expertise, with 22 of those years spent at ProMedica. Randy is regarded as one of the nation’s top leaders in health care and has earned a spot on several prestigious listings, which include Modern Healthcare’s 100 Most Influential People for three consecutive years and Becker’s Healthcare’s 100 Great Leaders to Know in Healthcare This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Houston Healthcare Initiative is a group of physicians and health conscious patients that have joined together in a Healthcare cooperative to maintain and improve the physical and mental health of each member of the group.

Healthcare consulting

October 27, 2021May 21, 2021 by Houston Healthcare Initiative

Announcing a new Healthcare Consulting FREE SERVICE offered by the Houston Healthcare Initiative for companies providing health insurance to their employees.

Healthcare consulting

HEALTHCARE CONSULTING

What we will do

1.Listen

Allow the company to explain what are the specific problems they face with the health of their employees and how they are currently addressing them.

2.Learn

What are the details of the current healthcare plan? What data are available concerning current costs and how are these costs broken down. What data are available concerning the health of the employees.

3.Analyze

Use the available data to develop a plan to both improve employee health and lower healthcare cost. We do this from a physician’s perspective.

4.Propose

Steps to accomplish the dual goals of improving employee health and lowering healthcare costs. These steps can be implemented at no cost to the company!

5.Educate

Provide education to employees on how to shop for healthcare services and what they can do to improve their health

To learn more send an email to info@houstonhealthcareinitiative.org

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Most recommendations will include
1.Financial incentives to improve both physical and mental fitness. These incentives could include lowering of employee’s monthly premiums for insurance; sharing the savings on healthcare expenses with employees; employee recognition for improvement in health e.g. awards for weight loss
2.Annual physical exam to identify disease at an early stage, collect data on employee health and use the data to develop the financial incentives for employees to improve their health. Use the data to develop other strategies to improve the overall health of the employee population.