More Employers Want To Penalize Their Workers For Unhealthy Habits

[FarCenter]

Employees are pretty happy with their company's wellness programs, but a recent Towers Watson survey suggests that may change soon, reports Bloomberg Businessweek's John Tozzi.

Of the 512 companies surveyed, 40 percent said their goal for 2013 was to develop a workplace culture where employees are more accountable for their health.

In fact, 22% of employers said they plan to increase their premiums or deductibles for workers who fail to meet certain health criteria. On the plus side, healthy workers would earn credits for deductibles.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/wellness-programs-could-make-employees-more-accountable-for-their-health-2012-3

[xchrom]

1. always remember: management is never your friend. nt

[FarCenter]

5. In this case they are your "dutch uncle"

And their interests and your actual self-interests are aligned.

Unpleasant though it may be.

[orwell]

10. +1...n/t

[xchrom]

11. ...

[LetTimmySmoke]

2. And people complain about government being all up in your lives.

[The Straight Story]

3. Good. I hope they tell people they can't drink coffee or drink alcohol at home

Folks thought it was just fine when companies fired people for smoking at home (it's a bad habit, you don't need to do it, I don't smoke, etc) - those same control freaks can get in line and enjoy the fruits of their labor (sadly though, those same people will be happy to have others control their lives. Except on abortion. Everything else is ok to control)

[Brickbat]

4. I totally support this. An employer and a multi-billion-dollar health-insurance corporation

driven by cutting costs and maximizing profit are the entities that should be between a person and her doctor. Not the government.

[FarCenter]

6. Politicians certainly don't want to take on the unpopular task of actually cutting health costs!

They would much rather that employers and insurance companies do that.

[Lint Head]

7. This is another way to knock people with pre exsisting conditions.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. “The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same.”

“The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same.” Marie-Henri Beyle - aka Stendhal

[zipplewrath]

9. I've seen this coming

My employer started with simple things like offering to pay half your gym fee. Then there as an incentive to attest to not being a smoker. Then they banned smoking on property. Next came their wellness program which offered "health dollars" if you participated with their "wellness" coach. Finally, there are "health dollars" which can be "earned" through the wearing of a pedometer.

They're going to start hitting Body Mass Index soon, I can just see it coming. They'll want to see your cholesteral next.

[HockeyMom]

12. They did that with mine

BMI? Old hat. They measured waists and hips. You waist isn't at least 8 inches smaller than your hips? Diet! Gym! The problem arouse when they said this to a 4'11", 95 lb. woman. FAT? Hello no, but her waist/hip ratio didn't match up to their standards. They told her they wanted to go to a gym (one THEY approved) to get her waist down. Want to know what her waist measurement was? 25 inches. TOO BIG. According to these charts her waist should have been 23 inches. Incidentially, this woman was 60 years old and wore a size 0.

BTW, if she didn't COMPLY (their words) with this they would increase her premiums.