If you work for a company, be prepared...there are all types of incentives/penalties being implemented by companies relative to health care...an effort to change employee behavior..there are lots of potential legal and privacy issues yet to arise as this becomes more main stream...and some health issues can't be controlled, so as this moves on I'm sure there will be much more on this subject. As the article states, companies are using both negative and positive incentives and come in many variations. BD
A small number of companies have linked health factors to what employees pay for benefits, but the practice is expected to grow now that some federal rules have been finalized, spelling out what's allowed by law. Employee advocates worry that other anti-discrimination laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act won't cover the person who is 20 or 30 pounds overweight. The businesses are deducting from employees' paychecks, adding insurance surcharges or offering insurance discounts or rebates only to low-risk workers. "Employers know they have to do something," said Garry Mathiason, a senior partner at the national employment and labor law firm Littler Mendelson, based in Boston. "I believe that in just the next two years more employers will turn to penalties to change employee behavior.
In 2009 the company will start reducing pay for employees in its health plan by $10 per paycheck if their BMI — a measurement of body fat through a height and weight ratio — is in the obese range of more than 29.9. The deduction will be $5 per check if they don't meet required cholesterol, blood pressure or blood glucose measurements. Workers will be required to complete an annual health risk assessment and can appeal to have their fees dropped if they show improvement.
"It's a backdoor approach to weeding out expensive employees," legal director Jeremy Gruber said.
The Associated Press: Some Companies Penalize for Health Risks
Sounds like a win-win situation for both the employer and employee!
ReplyDelete