Want to Live Longer? Pick the Right Employer

Americans could live nearly 20 years longer-if businesses lead the way.

- ERIN PRATER

ANDREW DAVIS, an actuary at global financial services firm Deloitte, makes a comfortable living. But he might not have thought of outfitting his 62-acre plot of land near Clear Lake, Minn., with a solar generator-or planting a fruit orchard there without the company's well-being subsidy.

The benefit allows employees up to $1,000 annually for items that can improve their health and wellness. It covers the obvious, like gym memberships. But it can also be used for purchases that improve mental health, like musical instruments, and items that nurture the earth, like solar panels.

For Davis, Deloitte has chipped in on a family karaoke setup, green fees for golf with his dad, and books to inform his next project: establishing a chicken farm..

The subsidy has opened his eyes to opportunities for "emotional health" and made them a reality without requiring him to sacrifice in other areas. His sustainable acreage-with company-funded improvements-has become a place that makes Davis feel like a great human being" in his off time, he tells Fortune. He says tending to the land with his wife and children is "an amazing feeling."

Health care is a key employee benefit in the U.S. Could "wellness care" become one, too? There's a growing awareness among business leaders, public health officials, and physicians that employers can dramatically affect our quality and perhaps even length of life. Companies that take the responsibility seriously are likely to benefit from a more productive, dedicated workforce-and employees who may work longer before retirement.