Everyone is aware that health care costs continue to skyrocket. Last year we spent an average of $8,687 dollars per person on health care, and the figure—which includes insurance premiums, deductibles, co-pays and co-insurance—is projected to rise to $13,100 by 2018 if we do nothing to stop it. It’s enough to prompt widespread panic or wholesale defeat, depending on your outlook.

The good news is that something can be done, even by ordinary people, but first of all it’s important to understand where health care dollars are currently being spent.

A whopping 75% of the total is spent treating chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer—most of which can be avoided through lifestyle change. Not only are chronic diseases costly (by their very definition, chronic diseases recur frequently and many never go away), but they greatly compromise the quality of life of those afflicted with them.

Unfortunately, people rarely imagine themselves having a chronic disease until they get slammed with the consequences of their behavior, and then it’s often too late. The only way to whittle away at this 75% health care draw is to sell lifestyle change at the employee/patient level, either by promoting its positive outcomes (like fitting into clothes, looking more attractive, and having money to spend on things besides health care), or negative outcomes (who wants to look and feel lousy or live in pain and poverty?)

If you think negative outcomes can’t happen in happy, healthy Colorado, consider that Colorado spent only $99 less than the national average on health insurance premiums, and the gap is closing. We’re actually on track with the rest of the nation when it comes to increasing rates of obesity and related diseases.

Another 25-30% of national health care dollars are spent on unnecessary care, duplicative care, or care that does not improve outcomes. The responsibility for these expenditures lies with poor care coordination, doctors trying to avoid malpractice suits, and lack of transparency within the health care system, presumably things we can do nothing about.

These big money draws are exacerbated by a for-profit system that pays for services rendered without demanding improved outcomes. But the good news is that we can help hold our health care providers accountable by becoming meaningfully involved in our own treatments. For example, we can ask questions. We can shop around. Is that procedure/blood test really necessary? How will it benefit me? Are there less expensive alternatives?

Business owners can lead the way by empowering employees to take charge of their own health care. Do your employees know how much you are paying towards their health insurance? Are they aware of how much their eating habits and physical activity (or lack thereof) impact their health and health care costs? Do they know how to shop around for health care? Do they know how to talk to their doctor?

If employees have the tools and the motivation to manage their own health care, there’s a good chance they can make needed lifestyle changes, develop proactive relationships with their doctors, and be encouraged by their own improved well being. Studies show that such involvement can reduce the likelihood of chronic disease in an organization and cut health care costs by 26%. It shouldn’t take long to realize the beneficial impact of that figure on your budget.

Bottom line, the health care problem is not going to magically go away. If we don’t begin to truly address the drivers of health care costs, we will all continue to pay a larger percentage of our hard-earned dollars to health care, whether it is through higher deductibles, higher premiums, higher taxes or all three combined. Wouldn’t you and your employees like to spend your money on other things like running shoes or a rocking road bike?