Medical Mutual of Ohio reimburses customers up to $150 for completing a Weight Watchers program.

UnitedHealthcare negotiated a deal so companies can offer employee discounts for Jenny Craig.

Aetna offers members discounts for both weight-loss programs.

And Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. built a $5 million wellness center with a gym, a pharmacy and an on-site doctor and dietitian.

Why? The National Institutes of Health estimate medical costs and lost productivity associated with obesity at about $117 billion annually.

When Medical Mutual of Ohio officials looked at claims they?d paid over a few years, diseases associated with obesity, such as diabetes and heart disease, rose to the top.

They said Weight Watchers is affordable, offers flexible meeting schedules, and successfully changes eating and exercising habits.

The program costs $12 a week, plus a $23 registration fee.

About 20 central Ohio companies offer incentives for employees to join Weight Watchers, said Linda Holmes, corporate account manager at Weight Watchers.

"Sometimes a little bit of incentive will work well," said Mary Wnek, manager of clinical quality improvement at Medical Mutual of Ohio.

"It?s enough to get people motivated."

People who join don?t have to lose weight, but they do have to participate and, at the end of the program, fill out a form that asks: Did you lose, gain or maintain your weight?

Since the company announced the program last week, nine people have signed up, Wnek said.

Medical Mutual?s is one of several health plans that Cleveland-based Sherwin-Williams offers employees. The company said it hopes workers will sign up for Weight Watchers.

"Obesity contributes a lot, about 10 percent of our overall health-care claims," said Dave Gauntner, Sherwin-Williams vice president of benefits and compensation. "Hypertension, diabetes, strokes, all those things are a result of obesity."

Many of the diseases related to obesity also are linked to smoking. Employers are trying to get workers to quit, though some more than others.

Scotts began enforcing a policy last fall that says employees who smoke, even at home, can be fired.

The smoking policy grabbed headlines, but Scotts spokesman Jim King said obesity and smoking were driving up health-care costs at the company.

Workers have responded. Smokers have quit and no one has been fired, King said. And about 70 percent of Marysville employees use the fitness center.

The health-conscious programs are becoming more common, even at smaller companies.

"Every single time we go out to talk to customers, they talk about wellness," said Wendy Morphew, an Aetna spokeswoman.

"In the past, it was a nice thing to offer to employees. Now they appreciate how important it is to their company?s bottom line."

William D. Hayes, president of the Health Policy Institute of Ohio, said overweight people and smokers miss more work, are less productive and more likely to go on disability leave.

For example, according to anti-smoking groups and state health departments, workers who take four 10-minute smoke breaks a day work one month less a year than workers who don?t take smoke breaks.

Insurers and employers say it?s worth the upfront costs to have healthy, productive workers. Still, most don?t expect immediate savings.

"We believe it will be several years before we see the economic impact of this," King said.

shoholik@dispatch.com?