Insight: Firms to charge smokers, obese more for healthcare

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Reuters:

(Reuters) - Like a lot of companies, Veridian Credit Union wants its employees to be healthier. In January, the Waterloo, Iowa-company rolled out a wellness program and voluntary screenings.

It also gave workers a mandate - quit smoking, curb obesity, or you'll be paying higher healthcare costs in 2013. It doesn't yet know by how much, but one thing's for certain - the unhealthy will pay more.

The credit union, which has more than 500 employees, is not alone.

In recent years, a growing number of companies have been encouraging workers to voluntarily improve their health to control escalating insurance costs. And while workers mostly like to see an employer offer smoking cessation classes and weight loss programs, too few are signing up or showing signs of improvement.

So now more employers are trying a different strategy - they're replacing the carrot with a stick and raising costs for workers who can't seem to lower their cholesterol or tackle obesity. They're also coming down hard on smokers. For example, discount store giant Wal-Mart says that starting in 2012 it will charge tobacco users higher premiums but also offer free smoking cessation programs.

Tobacco users consume about 25 percent more healthcare services than non-tobacco users, says Greg Rossiter, a spokesman for Wal-Mart, which insures more than 1 million people, including family members. "The decisions aren't easy, but we need to balance costs and provide quality coverage."

For decades, workers - especially with large employers - have taken many health benefits for granted and until the past few years hardly noticed the price increases.

But the new policies could not only badly dent their take home pay and benefits but also reduce their freedom to behave as they want outside of work and make them resentful toward their employers. There are also fears the trend will hurt the lower-paid hardest as health costs can eat up a bigger slice of their disposable income and because they may not have much access to gyms and fresh food in their neighborhoods.

"It's not inherently wrong to hold people responsible," says Lewis Maltby, president of the National Workrights Institute, a research and advocacy organization on employment issues based in Princeton, New Jersey. "But it's a dangerous precedent," he says. "Everything you do in your personal private life affects your health."
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Thus it begins...

[RandyM]

[clearvision]

So will they be able to charge more for risky life style choices?

[RandyM]

So will they be able to charge more for risky life style choices?

 

Under-eating: $50

 

Forgetting to floss: $25

 

Neglecting sunscreen: $40

 

Over-drinking: $150

 

Texting while driving: $100

 

Excessive snoring: $10

 

Misuse of AttackWatch.com: $5000

[clearvision]

High blood pressure from being a conservative in this environment --- priceless

[SrWoodchuck]

Sooo.......quit smoking to lower your health care costs & then....gain weight.....causing them to charge you more?

 

This must be a presidential executive order, since it makes no sense & costs you more no matter which way you go.