ir Richard Branson, founder
and chairman of the Virgin Group, took his global brand into the U.S. health care
market when he launched Virgin Life Care in 2006. Based on a model launched in South
Africa, Virgin Life Care offers programs for employers to give incentives—free movie
tickets, music, clothing—to employees who live healthy lifestyles. 
Participants in the programs earn miles by exercising and inputting their progress
into Virgin Life Care computer kiosks. The points they earn translate into goodies.
Like Steve Case, the founder of AOL who recently started Revolution Health after
his family’s struggle with the health care system, Branson took a personal interest
in health care and a belief that positive change can occur through private investments
and turned into a business.
Branson’s global health care efforts are focused, in particular,
on reducing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Africa. He was in New York on June 13
to speak on the issue at the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis
and Malaria’s sixth annual awards given to businesses that address these health
threats in the workplace and the communities where they operate.
Just prior to telling the audience of 700 global business
leaders that these diseases can be eradicated with the concentrated efforts of the
business community, Branson spoke briefly with Workforce Management staff
writer Jeremy Smerd.
How did you go get interested in the business of health
care?
If people aren’t being looked after well by their government,
then private enterprise needs to step in and look after people. In the case of Virgin
Life Care, we are encouraging people to stay healthy and rewarding them for staying
healthy. We were very successful in doing it in South Africa using our health clubs
and tying in with insurance companies and rewarding people for staying healthy.
It worked incredibly well, so we felt the same thing was likely to be able to happen
in America. And it’s early days, but my feeling is that it’s absolutely going in
the right direction.
What’s Virgin Life Care’s potential for getting employers
to buy into the concept of rewards for healthy lifestyle?
I think it could become one of the biggest businesses
Virgin has, where you’ve got the individual getting healthy as a result of the health
miles we offer, enabling them to get free membership to gyms—free or at very low
cost. It’s a win-win situation all around.
As an employer and as someone who is in the business of
health care are you talking to employers about the pressure they are facing in terms
of rising health care costs?
I’m not because I’m spending more and more of my time
on philanthropic things. But we have a lot of people in Boston who work for that
company who spend a lot of time talking to CEOs, and we’re getting a lot of companies
signing up.
Are you planning on seeing filmmaker Michael Moore’s new
movie, "Sicko," in which he advocates for a single-payer health care system?
I very much look forward to seeing it. I’ve enjoyed
his other films.
Workforce Management Online, July 2007 --
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