Some U.S. companies reforming healthcare in-house

*Safeway says program keeping costs steady

*Employees agree to smoking, weight tests

*Wal-Mart says 20,000 employees quit smoking

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON, April 14 (Reuters) - Companies impatient to rein in healthcare costs can go ahead on their own without waiting for federal legislation, Safeway Inc. (SWY.N) president Steven Burd said on Tuesday.

He said that making employees at the third-largest North American supermarket chain accountable for their weight, smoking, cholesterol and blood pressure, has saved millions. Burd proposed the highly praised program used by his company as a model not only to other companies, but to the federal government.

"If you are part of a large organization, you really don't have to wait for government to do anything," Burd told the World Health Care Congress being held in Washington. "You can design your own healthcare reform.

"In effect your behavior is a form of currency," said Burd, who is also Safeway's chairman and chief executive officer.

Healthcare reform is a priority of both the administration of President Barack Obama and this year's Congress -- both of which say some kind of legislation must be passed this year.