Life-style and organizational health insurance costs.

Most health professionals accept life-style as being causally related to morbidity and mortality, but many managers question this relationship, particularly in relation to corporate health care costs. This research compared responses from a lifestyle questionnaire (HealthScore), age, and organizational size, with Blue Cross/Blue Shield rates for eight work sites in Ohio. HealthScore was demonstrated to be the best predictor of health insurance rates. This relationship held for a secondary analysis involving Blue Shield rates adjusted for company size and coverage.