Right now, California is facing a truly insurmountable foe in the lifestyle of its residents who are burdening businesses and taxpayers to the tune of $41 Billion.  If the tide is not stemmed, this immense amount of health care costs could grow up to 52.7 billion in 2011.

Here is the story on these astounding numbers:

* 59 percent of Californians are obese or overweight, and 48 percent are physically inactive.
* Half the costs were attributed to health care expenses, and half to lost productivity, such as absenteeism.
* California is already dealing with a devastating $26.3 billion budget shortfall this fiscal year.
* These costs have doubled over the course of 6 years.
* To measure the economic toll of excess weight and inactivity, researchers analyzed records such as government-compiled databases, tracking health insurance claims, industry drug-utilization reports, Medi-Cal claims, and state and national surveys on rates of physical activity.
* Health care expenses were tallied through direct costs as well as “indirect costs,” such as lingering health problems, and a reduced quality of life that affects a persons earning capacity.
* Productivity costs were assessed by analyzing rates of job absenteeism, short-term disability, and “presenteeism,” or the portion of work an employee can’t perform because of compromised health.

The executive director of the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, Harold Goldstein, said, “Every public health movement has shown that people can only be healthy if public policies are in place to support healthy choices, the national debate over health care reform needs to include prevention as a primary tactic for controlling costs… Make prevention and wellness the cornerstone of a new national health care system.”

And ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, goes a famous maxim.  But what if the disease has spread already?  We’re guessing damage control is also necessary.  Aside from banding together to make healthy food more accessible, exercise more feasible, and educational programs to show people how to accomplish these things, what else do you think can we do about this?