Coming soon to a workplace near you: 'wellness or else'

[Valin]

Reuters:

Sharon Begley

Jan 13 2015

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. companies are increasingly penalizing workers who decline to join "wellness" programs, embracing an element of President Barack Obama's healthcare law that has raised questions about fairness in the workplace.

 

Beginning in 2014, the law known as Obamacare raised the financial incentives that employers are allowed to offer workers for participating in workplace wellness programs and achieving results. The incentives, which big business lobbied for, can be either rewards or penalties - up to 30 percent of health insurance premiums, deductibles, and other costs, and even more if the programs target smoking.

 

Among the two-thirds of large companies using such incentives to encourage participation, almost a quarter are imposing financial penalties on those who opt-out, according to a survey by the National Business Group on Health and benefits consultant Towers Watson

 

For some companies, however, just signing up for a wellness program isn't enough. They're linking financial incentives to specific goals such as losing weight, reducing cholesterol, or keeping blood glucose under control. The number of businesses imposing such outcomes-based wellness plans is expected to double this year to 46 percent, the survey found.

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

I'm afraid (well not really) I am the bearer of bad news....

So you're takin' better care of your body ,
Becoming more aware of your body.
Responding to your body's needs.
Everything you hear and read about
Diets and nutrition and sleeping positions
and detoxifying your system and buying machines
that they advertise to help you exercise.

Herbs to revitalize you if you're traumatized.
Soaps that will sanitize.
Sprays to deodorize.
Liquid to neutralize acids and pesticides.
Free weights to maximize your strength and muscle size.
Shots that will immunize.
Pills to re-energize you.
But remember, that for all your pain and gain
Eventually, the story ends the same...

You can quit smokin', but you're still gonna die.
Cut out cokin', but you're still gonna die.
Eliminate everything fatty or fried,
And you get real healthy, but you're still gonna die.

Stop drinkin' booze, you're still gonna die.
Stay away from Kools, you're still gonna die.
You can cut out coffee and never get high,
But you're still gonna, still gonna, still gonna die.

You're still gonna, still gonna, still gonna die.
Still gonna, still gonna, still gonna die.
You can even give aerobics one more try,
But when the music stops playin', you're still gonna die.

Put seat belts in your car, you're still gonna die.
Cut nicotine and tar, you're still gonna die.
You can exercise that cellulite off-a your thighs.
Get slimmer and trimmer, but you're still gonna die.

Stop gettin' a tan, you're still gonna die.
You can eat a lot of oat bran but you're still gonna die
You can search for UFO's up in the sky
They might fly you to Mars where you're still gonna die.

You're still gonna, still gonna, still gonna die.
Still gonna, still gonna, still gonna die.
And all the Reeboks and Nikes and Adidas you buy
You can jog up to Heaven and you're still gonna die.

Drink ginseng tonics, you're still gonna die.
Try high colonics, you're still gonna die.
You can have yourself frozen, suspended in time,
But when they do thaw you out, you're still gonna die.

You can have safe sex, you're still gonna die.
You can switch to Crest but you're still gonna die.
You can get rid of stress, get a lot of rest,
Get an AIDS test, enroll in EST,
Move out west where it's sunny and dry
And you'll live to be a hundred but you're still gonna die.

You're still gonna, still gonna, still gonna die.
Still gonna, still gonna, still gonna die.
So you'd better have some fun 'Fore you say bye-bye,
'Cause you're still gonna, still gonna, still gonna die.

[clearvision]

Ban cigar smoking and port drinking and see how these company execs act...