Humana 2009 Annual Report Download - page 6

Consumer Programs with Healthy Results
As an active participant in the health-reform
debate, Humana is taking an increasingly
prominent role in launching programs that
attack a fundamental accelerator of our
health-care crisis – widespread unhealthy
behaviors, leading to out-of-control costs.
To demonstrate how childhood obesity can
be curtailed, for example, The Humana
Foundation partnered with 20 members
of Congress – 10 Democrats and 10
Republicans – on the innovative American
Horsepower Challenge. This unique,
Humana-created exercise/videogame
initiative, which features pedometers
linked to computers, showed its ability to
increase middle schoolers’ activity while
they have fun and engage in friendly
competition. At the end of the initial
four-week program, the nearly 1,600
participating students and 20 members
of Congress had walked a combined 132
million steps – just over 50,000 miles –
and burned 2.25 million calories. If the
miles walked had been driven in a car,
the carbon emissions would have equaled
22.1 metric tons. Importantly, even as
this three-semester program comes to an
end, the Georgia Institute of Technology
will continue to study the ongoing health
benefi ts that the American Horsepower
Challenge has had on its participants.
Similar success was achieved through
Humana’s signature Freewheelin bike-
sharing program. As the lead sponsor
of the 2009 Summer National Senior
Games in Palo Alto, California, Humana
provided athletes and spectators with
access to Freehweelin bikes. By the end
of the two-week event, Freewheelin
riders had taken 2,406 rides, pedaled
11,072 miles, burned 343,241 calories
and reduced their carbon footprint by
3.9 metric tons.
52009AnnualReport
As an active
participant in the
health-reform debate,
Humana is taking
an increasingly
prominent role
in launching
programs that attack
a fundamental
accelerator of our
health-care crisis –
widespread unhealthy
behaviors, leading to
out-of-control costs.