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At first glance, unlikely opponents of healthy living By Janet Hook
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | (MCT) Who could object to rewarding people who quit smoking, lose weight or start to exercise? Some companies now charge lower insurance premiums to workers who meet benchmarks for healthy living. The But instead of cheering the proposal, some patient-advocacy and health groups are worried that it would mean higher rates for less-fit Americans, possibly pricing them out of their employers' insurance plans. "It is a way of cherry-picking," said Critics of the Under current law, companies can discount insurance premiums by 20 percent if employees meet benchmarks for weight, smoking or other aspects of their health. Earlier this year, two Leading the charge for the idea is
A lobbying blitz by Burd, who has traveled to "We believe that personal responsibility and financial incentives are the path to a healthier America," Burd said in a newspaper column. Nationwide, the program covers 25,000 nonunion employees who are part of the Once a year, participants submit to tests of four health risk factors: smoking, obesity, blood pressure and cholesterol. If they pass all four, they receive a If they do not pass initially but make progress — quitting smoking or losing 10 percent of their weight — they can get a premium rebate. After making several changes in the health policy offered to nonunion workers, Burd said, the company's health care costs have "flatlined" over the last four years, while other companies' costs have gone up nearly 40 percent on average. But it is not clear how much credit goes to the premium discounts. Those have been available only for one year, and presumably it is too soon for lifestyle changes to effect health expenses. There is no independent analysis of the program and whether it really changes behavior — or, as critics suggest, rewards people who would be healthy anyway. Critics in the labor movement say the incentive scheme is a backdoor way for companies to cut their costs by driving less-healthy workers out of the insurance group. Indeed, most of What is more, critics worry that the program will unfairly penalize people whose health status is not solely the result of behavior they can easily control, such as a genetic predisposition to obesity or the weight gain that often accompanies smoking cessation. Ken Schachmut, a Opponents hope to water down the Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Rex Nutting is a columnist for MarketWatch.com. Comment by clicking here. © 2009, Tribune Co. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Arnold Ahlert | |||||||||||
