I was a meeting on health care reform in Wilmington, DE, yesterday and U.S. Senator Thomas Carper, a Democrat representing the state, was on hand to tell us what was in store given the new legislation.
There’s so much in the law that bits and pieces have been coming out slowly, but one key part that caught my interest yesterday was discounts for employees who get healthy, up to 30 percent off their insurance premiums, the senator said.
Carper, a trim man who’s often seen jogging around Wilmington, seemed very excited about this provision in reform. If you lose weight, or bring down your blood pressure, he said, you can get a break on your insurance.
But what about the unhealthy workers among us who struggle with weight and medical issues? Is offering breaks on insurance, or financial rewards of any kind, actually a sneaky tax on the fat and unhealthy among us?
There are some people out there who have medical conditions that make it very hard for them to lose weight. And I know several people close to me with persistent high blood pressure that they’ve struggled for years trying to keep down.
If someone has a health issue that’s covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, then this part of health care reform could run afoul of the law if it’s not implemented correctly. The law does spell out, according to this story in a Mississippi medical publication, that such discounts should not discriminate against individuals but it opens up a big, fat can of worms.
Most workers want to keep their medical conditions to themselves as much as possible, but suddenly they may be forced to have to explain why they’re not taking walking breaks at lunch like everyone else, or not slimming down.
Things are only going to get worse folks, because there’s a perfect storm brewing when it comes to your health and your employer’s bottom line. The bad economy is actually making some people eat more and experience more health problems, at a time when companies are trying to cut their huge health care expenses.
Penalizing unhealthy workers is nothing new in Corporate America, and the wellness mantra is only intensifying.
A survey of about 500 HR and benefit executives by professional services firm Towers Perrin found:
* 50 percent of companies have or will introduce or increase investments in wellness and health promotion in 2009 and 2010.
* 32 percent have or will introduce or increase financial incentives for wellness or health promotion activities in 2009 and 2010, and another 30% are considering this action.And employers are upping the ante on employee pressure to shape up:
* 45 percent say they will or are considering introducing or increasing penalties for nonparticipation in wellness or health promotion activities.
That kind of pressure, however, makes some employee advocates uncomfortable, and there are strict federal guidelines employers have to follow when crafting such weight management programs.
“We need to make sure overweight and obese employees, who are already vulnerable to stigma in the workplace, are not stigmatized even further,” stresses Rebecca Puhl, coordinator of weight stigma initiatives at Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.
And labor attorney Hanan Kolko maintains: “employers shouldn’t be our mothers. Workers ought to have the right to be left alone.”
Unfortunately, given the crisis our nation’s facing when it comes to escalating health care costs, employees seem to be right in the line of fire.
August 13th, 2010 at 10:30 am
As someone who peaked at 348 lbs. and has been fighting to get down into the 270s (on the way to 210 lbs.), I just want to scream when my employers insurance companies pressure me (under threat) to join various wellness initiatives. I’ve been working with my physician for years to lose weight slowly rather than undergoing gastric bypass. I went from being an inactive couch potato to being an overweight man who can run seven miles and improved his health enough to ditch numerous medications. Yet I still get the letters and calls telling me I need to sign up for one wellness program or another, lest I want to pay higher premiums (or, more likely, if I want to get a discount).
It really pisses me off! I have a doctor, and am making progress.
If they really wanted to help, why not subsidize (or cover) the cost of a gym membership, rather than all of their rediculous and redundant programs? I had one policy that did that, but my employer switched insurance companies to keep costs down.
If they really wanted to help, why not make sure I have backup support for my position, so I don’t end up working evenings and weekends when I could be active?
If they really wanted to help, why not let me come in or leave early a few times a week so I can fit in my daily exercise without needing to get up at 4:30 AM?
To me, they don’t do these things because they don’t really care about helping their employees get healthy. They only care about keeping their share of payments for healthcare coverage to a minimum.
I’d rather die sick and free than to be treated like a toddler by my employer and insurance company!
August 13th, 2010 at 11:40 am
Wow HikingStick, your rant on this should be required reading for politicians and corporate managers. It really is frustrating the draconian steps people in power want to take sometimes to fix things. Do they really think this stuff out? Let’s force some of the fat cats in Congress onto treadmills if they want to hold onto their jobs and their lavish health benefits.
August 13th, 2010 at 5:21 pm
I hesitate to stick my toes into the water on this one, but the reality is that insurance is a numbers game and obesity is a primary indicator of health problems. Also, I find it contradictory that HikingStick does not want to be “mothered” by his employer, but he wants them to pay for his gym membership and adjust his hours so it’s more convenient for him to exercise.
There’s no doubt that most employers are only interested in the bottom line - but if our businesses are not healthy financially, then we’re all out of luck.
August 14th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
Hiking Stick, What you said about subsidizing health centers is genius. I was driving past a gym just the other day and thought, “Hey! I’d go if I could get a discount.” And you’re absolutely right! Businesses care about staying in business… not the wholesome welfare of their employees. Since when did companies know what’s better for the individual more than the individual.
August 16th, 2010 at 7:57 am
To me, its not about the individual, but rather that health plans are trying to call shots that should be made by physicians. I’ve saved my health insurers money by losing weight without costly surgeries, and I continue to work to improve my health. To have insurance companies second guess the care my primary care physician is just a waste of resources that simultaneously angers many (patients and physicians).
August 16th, 2010 at 8:06 am
Meg, the point I’m making about gym memberships is that the insurance companies are already paying for their wellness programs that duplicate the care provided by the patient’s physician and clinic. The money they spend on those programs could be spent on other things, like subsidies for gym memberships, and they’d likely see a greater return on their investment (as reflected in the health of their group members).
As to time from my employer, shouldn’t an employer want to keep its employees, as much as is possible (and influencable), healthy and productive? I’m the only one in my function where I currently work, and that means I can’t take vacation time without receiving support calls. We’ve had major network issues over the past three weekends, and two of the past three Mondays I’ve had to skip my run because I was called into the office by 6 AM (when I typically start at 8 AM). Is it so unreasonable to adjust a work schedule so someone can get to the gym, or to make sure there’s enough coverage so that one person does not end up handling all of the night and weekend work after putting in a full work week? Those who still smoke here take breaks as often as they need them, and it’s socially acceptable because the company president is a smoker. If they took the time they spend smoking and took it as one block, many of them would log an hour a day or more. Yet I, who would like to be able to get to the gym regularly or not miss my scheduled workouts, am somehow a self-centered and demanding fool for raising the issue of time off for health maintenance?
August 17th, 2010 at 10:25 am
Oh boy, what a good topic.
@HikingStick - I say, good for you! And I am totally on board with your position that companies say one thing and do another when it comes to real, meaningful health incentives.
I worked for many years at big Manhattan firms that would tout wellness and work/life balance but, in reality, provide an environment that fostered the opposite. I even remember at one firm they hosted an all day hoopla about blood pressure, exercise, nutrition, smoking etc. (everybody had an hour to visit the booths) and then later that night when we were all burning the midnight oil, we ordered pizza and ice cream “on the boss.” Sigh. Anyone else see a problem with this picture?
Now I am lucky to work at a company that lets me leave at an incredibly reasonable hour so that I have time to myself at the end of the day. And, you know what? I’ve quit some bad habits, started doing yoga and now go at least 4 times a week now. If I need to finish something at work later, they trust me to get it done later in the evening.
So, which company has the better policy? The one that paid consultants to pretty up a health fair or the one whose policies innately support a healthier environment?