Prevention, wellness, and personal responsibility are cornerstones of Governor Schwarzenegger's health care reforms.

By focusing on personal responsibility through Healthy Actions Programs, the Governor's health care reforms will help lower costs.

• Californians should be rewarded for taking steps to improve their health. Chronic illness is a major driver of high health care costs. Healthy Action Programs reward people who take preventative health actions-such as participating in smoking cessation programs, managing their diabetes, and getting cancer screenings and immunizations. Rewards include vouchers and credits for health-related goods, services and items, such as gym and Weight Watchers memberships.
• Participating in the Governor's Healthy Actions Programs can lower Californians' premiums. The Governor's reforms will require health plans and insurers to offer benefits and incentives, including premium reduction, to people who meet certain health goals.
  • Healthy Actions Programs are not punitive. Individuals who are overweight, smoke or suffer from diabetes, for example, will not be charged higher premiums.

California can lead the nation in tackling the obesity epidemic.

• California has been successful in reducing smoking, and can use the same tools to tackle obesity. The Governor's reforms take on the obesity epidemic using the same approach as California's internationally recognized anti-tobacco campaign.
• Tackling obesity is key to improving Californians' health and reducing health care costs. In 2003, fewer than half of all Californians were at a healthy weight. Increasing Californians' physical activity has the potential to reduce direct and indirect medical costs by more than $1 billion per year in California, according to the state Department of Health Services.

Diabetes screening and management can improve the lives of two million Californians and significantly cut medical costs.

• Diabetes drives up health care costs. The average annual medical expenditure for a person with diabetes is about five times higher than someone without.
• The Governor proposes more diabetes screenings and self-management support. The Governor proposes a five-year Diabetes Prevention and Management Initiative to: Screen Medi-Cal beneficiaries for diabetes; promote self-management of diabetes; reduce the impact of diabetes on the health of Californians; and reduce the diabetes-related costs on California's health care system. 
• Over two million Californians have the disease. The number of Californians with diabetes is expected to double by 2025. Currently 600,000 million Californians aren't even aware that they suffer from diabetes.

The Governor's reforms will help Californians kick the tobacco habit-a leading, preventable cause of death and disease.

• About 4 million Californians smoke. Despite the accomplishments of California's internationally recognized Tobacco Control Program, there are approximately 3.8 million adult smokers and 200,000 youth smokers in California.
• Tobacco use drives up medical costs reduces worker productivity. There are approximately 43,000 tobacco-related deaths each year. This translates into $8.6 billion in direct medical costs and $7.3 billion in lost productivity from illness and premature death.
• The Governor's smoking cessation initiative includes:
  • Helping an additional 40,000 smokers access smoking cessation services through the California Smokers' Helpline. 
  • Doubling the rate of smokers using health insurance cessation benefits from an estimated 6 percent to 12 percent annually. 
  • Annually summarizing the smoking cessation benefits provided by the 10 largest private and public health insurers, making the insurance benefit data available on the Internet and promoting smoking cessation programs.

Promoting patient safety and preventing medical errors will lower medical costs. 

• The Governor's proposal teams hospitals with the state to promote patient safety. Under the Governor's reforms, California's health care providers will work with the state to reduce errors and make patients safer. His proposal includes:
  • Requiring e-prescribing by all providers by 2010.
    
  • Issuing a call to action for California's health care facilities to implement critical safety measures related to infection control, surgical errors and adverse drug events by 2008.
  • Enacting new health care safety measures and reporting requirements.
    
  • Establishing an Office of Patient Safety within the Department of Public Health.

The Governor's Challenge is a fun and easy way for kids to get physically fit.

• The Governor's Challenge gives kids the incentive to get active and healthy. The Challenge encourages K-12 students to engage in 30-60 minutes of physical activity per day, at least three days per week, for four weeks. Participating students have the chance to win $1,000 for physical activity equipment, and the chance for a brand-new fitness center at their school.