Posted on 08/12/2007 10:47:36 PM PDT by melt
Companies seeking to cut rising health care costs are starting to dock the pay of overweight and unhealthy workers.
Clarian Health, an Indiana hospital chain, will require workers who smoke to pay $5 out of each paycheck starting in 2009. For workers deemed obese, as much as $30 will be taken out each paycheck until they meet certain weight, cholesterol and blood pressure standards.
Clarian employees will also be required to take part in a health risk appraisal that will inform the company which employees smoke.
Such appraisals are becoming a popular tool for businesses to determine the health of their work force. The type of health benefit program Clarian is setting up could become a model for businesses in coming years, analysts say.
"We anticipate that more employers will require employees to complete a health risk appraisal and participate in screenings," said Tracy Watts, a health benefits consultant for Mercer Human Resource Consulting. "We also are seeing more interest in rewards for healthy behaviors such as participating in health management-related programs and for healthy behaviors such as not using tobacco products."
A survey of nearly 3,000 employers last year by Mercer found that 53 percent required a health risk assessment of its workers. That number is up from 35 percent in 2004.
And 62 percent of the 135 top executives who responded to a PriceWaterhouseCooper's survey this year said their companies should require employees who show unhealthy behaviors to pay a greater share of their health care costs.
Weyco, a Lansing, Mich., benefits administrator, recently adopted a policy to completely eliminate tobacco use from its work force. In 2003, the company introduced a policy of not hiring tobacco users and began offering smoking-cessation programs to employees, who were given a year to quit.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
I’m sure many of the fat, chainsmoking gals also have tattoos.
All the girls seem to have tatoos. One of the cute young ones who is a friend just got one. Not a tramp stamp thankfully, but I just shook my head.
“Individuals with higher cholesterol tend to live longer than individuals with low cholesterol. It is not a factor in determining heart or cardiovascular health. Cholesterol as a “disease” is a scam to promote the sale of cholesterol lowering drugs.”
That is great news for me. Can you provide a link to additional information regarding this?
How does your hospital enforce the non-smoking on property policy with their non-employees? I’d be very curious how they could prevent me from smoking outside their building...
“It came about because the federal government made health insurance benefits tax free.”
Actually, that was a side effect of the government instituting wage caps. But I agree with you that to many people consider it a “right” these days.
I wonder what the auto insurance rate would be for someone who pays cash for everything and does not have a credit rating. Imagine if Dave Ramsey were turned down for auto insurance because he doesn’t believe in debt, therefore he does not have a credit score.
“No, just people whose health and habits demonstrably increase their risk to the insurance company.”
A great example would be married people. They significanlty increase the risk of higher costs due to pregnancy.
And they pay higher premiums for it (if they are both covered). But I'd say an unmarried woman in the U.S. has a similar risk of getting pregnant as a married one.
“And they pay higher premiums..”
Not for the additional risk, rather for the added person. Adding a spouse to a policy is only a premium of 36.5% at my employer. Yet, their risk of increasing the cost outlays of the company are increased several times that. There is no marriage premium for that increase in risk of increased cost.
Gore: Cigarette Smoking 'Significant' Contributor to Global Warming
Employees get a couple warnings if they get caught. Then they get fired.
LOL that’s funny. I don’t think I want to be reminded every day though lol. Maybe once a month for now and later once a year. Today it’s about $180 ($6 a pack)so far, so maybe I should put that money in a can of peas or something and then in a few months get myself something nice.
Congrats to you, btw!
I think I would just walk away from the security guard and maintain a peacable silence. It would be rather comical to see them get all frustrated at the SIGHT of someone smoking 20 feet away from anyone.....
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