Health insurance is far from a stimulating topic, well unless you’re the Federal government, but that’s a story for another day. I applaud health insurance brokers and benefits specialists who do this on a full-time basis.
I would like to see health insurance carriers start treating subscribers the same way as auto, homeowners and life insurance carriers do. Think of driving. If you get too many tickets or accidents or decide to drive your car after a few toddies, you’re in big trouble with your carrier (and the law!) and will be nailed with higher premiums — as well as probably being dropped like a hot potato if they find out. Have fun shopping those car insurance rates due to making the choice to be irresponsible on the road. Have you tried to purchase a generous life insurance policy if you’re not healthy?
Why don’t companies do the same with health insurance and employees? Are our bodies not as important as vehicles? If people choose to be irresponsible with their health — such as make the choice to smoke or be obese without taking steps to lead a healthy life, why should healthy individuals pay the same premium as irresponsible, unhealthy people? This question was posted to an HR group and one of the comments made was that it was discriminatory. Seriously? Would you tell your auto carrier that when they raise your rates because you’re choosing to speed? I don’t think there should be equal rights and fairness with health insurance premiums. Keep in mind, I’m not talking about individuals who have a real, diagnosed medical condition — I’m referring to those who choose to lead an unhealthy life. People can’t play the ignorant card. The data is plastered on television ads, the Internet, in schools and workplaces. These are just a few statistics taken from the American Heart Association’s site. There is a ton of information about obesity and smoking-related diseases as well.
- About 12 million (16.3%) of U.S. children ages 2 to 19 are obese.
- Nearly one in three (31.9%) U.S. children (23,500,000) ages 2 to 19 are overweight or obese.
- Nearly one-third (32.9%) of U.S. adults are obese (nearly 72 million adults).
Do we need to get into the damages of smoking? I didn’t think so. I’m also tired of the crutches — smoking is an addiction, depressed people use food to comfort. Enough already. I say that companies should have the right to distribute health questionnaires from carriers and the premiums should be adjusted accordingly.
For the record, I also don’t think it’s a company’s responsibility to offer workplace wellness programs. Your employer is not your mommy. We should all be making healthy choices and taking care of ourselves each and everyday.
…now where’s my Ben & Jerry’s? 
Yes, I eat ice cream and I believe in moderation and making healthy choices because I want to live a long time!
Feel free to share your thoughts!
“Keep in mind, I’m not talking about individuals who have a real, diagnosed medical condition — I’m referring to those who choose to lead an unhealthy life. ”
Interesting and provocative (sorta) — but ultimately awful, elitist, and short-sided as you would end up having an adverse impact on women, older people, the poor, and minorities. (This sounds harsh. It’s delivered in a sincere way.)
And who judges an unhealthy lifestyle? The food police? The same people who put corn syrup in everything, create food deserts in our urban environments, and try to feed our nation’s schoolchildren on 99 cents/day budgets?
Ugh to this. Sorry.
And many states are moving towards a ‘no fault’ insurance policy for car insurance, FYI. Risk is distributed over a larger pool and it brings costs down (theoretically).
So I dunno on this one.
PS — why not just outlaw smoking?
Several states already have “no fault” insurance for auto policies and I live in one but it doesn’t change the fact that premiums will go up with too many tickets or accidents.
Insurance carriers employ risk managers — who can administer the health statements. There will be plenty of new employees working for insurance companies doing all of the required federal reporting once the provisions of HCR are carried out. The insurance companies can provide employees quarterly health statements to determine the healthy lifestyle. When there is health improvement and diseases are being more easily managed, the premium gets reduced. Just like other insurance policies. We fill out health forms to drive, get married and tons of other things, why not a health assessment for insurance?
If this is elitist or short-sided then so is applying for life insurance. How would the poor provide for their family when they die and there’s nothing to pay for housing, food, etc.?
Kimmy,
In many ways I can see the good, the bad, and the ugly in this.
Here in America, we will be quick to judge openly the person who is smoking – and insurance is penalizing that individual hard core – as well as the medical system..
But, if we were to be openly vocal about the woman who is over 350 Lbs who is going for her 5th plate at the Buffet, and this time has 5 cheesecakes on her plate – it would be considered mean to speak up.
There are individuals who do choose to drink themselves to death, and we pay for it.. We have the individuals who have health problems like diabetes who will continue to eat sugar like it is going out of style. And we do financially continue to support these folks.
In many ways it is a catch 22 – our costs are up because of very poor and informal education regarding heath.. not to mention poor health care.. and if more were able to afford to go to the doctors, we could see, like in many other socialistic countries, better health, lower mortality rates, lower health care costs.. but we have to lower the costs today to get to that point.
This is a bit scary though. Because it may ultimately bring back the issues of pre existing conditions.. and such like.. but I am sure there is something, some way we could make this work in a positive way
I think most of us are used to group plans through an employer. Have you tried applying for individual coverage? They will start off asking your height & weight and tobacco status. Then you’ll go on to answer several pages of very personal information not just about your behavior but diseases and conditions, many totally outside of your control. They’ll approve you, deny you, or jack up the rates accordingly. Pretty scary stuff.
We all know that behavior (smoking, drinking, inactivity, etc.) is a major driver of health-care costs. We’re just not used to having to think in terms of responsibility for the increased costs of our own poor health choices. We’re going to be forced to start thinking that way because our health insurance increases are unsustainable. I remember seeing a projection that the average cost of health insurance will equal the average cost of wages in less than 10 years!! Talking about supersizing; that’s huge.
As HR pros, we are always trying to increase our value and relevance. Figuring out this healthcare thing just might do it…
And I thought I was a right-wing pragmatist! Love it. Couldn’t agree more. I would go one step further by giving tax breaks to those who get a clean bill of hearth every year AND can show they either lost weight OR had all their checkups for cancer etc yearly. People gravitate towards that which rewards them. so reward healthy behavior.
I have to agree with whoever posted that it’s discriminatory since there is no way to monitor people’s eating and lifestyle habits one hundred percent you would be picking out things you deemed unhealthy. Car accidents who fault and are pretty easy to figure out. Health on the other hand is part lifestyle, part genetics and good/bad luck. Who would monitor and make choices on what you pay or don’t? Obesity is not always a choice. Seriously, check out Cushings and some other fun medical conditions that people suffer with and are labeled by ignorant people as making a bad lifestyle choice. Try having a brain tumor that makes you blow up like a balloon even though you eat barely nothing and exercise all the time. I think people who smoke are crazy but an employer could single out a smoker as a negative and let the size 2, fast food, all fat and candy eating, unprotected orgy seeking, weekend recreational drug user go by because they are thin and don’t smoke. Just my two cents.
Thank you for your comment Susan and I agree with some of your comments. I agree that someone who may be obese due to an illness and or the medication side effects will have limited control over that; however, that is not what I was referring to.
I do not agree that our health is part luck and genetics. We have the ability to change that because we have the knowledge to do so. We can overcome genetics too through a healthier lifestyle. People in our society today are lazy and will use those reasons as excuses instead of doing the more difficult task of tackling it and being accountable. There’s always an excuse: I’m too busy to exercise, not enough time to cook for my family so we go through the drive thru (hence our FAT children). Again, this post is in no way referencing someone who may be obese from medication due to a brain tumor! This was simply about people who are irresponsible about their own health and lifestyle. You’re correct, people who are having unprotected sex is something we may never know about either. But, just because someone is thin doesn’t mean they are healthy either. Just to clarify, this is not something that would be monitored by an employer either — there are professional risk managers who do this for a living.
Thank you again for your comments — much appreciated.
Kimberly,
You make some great points in this post, but your comment that you do not agree that a large part of health is related to genetics is just plain wrong.
There is no doubt that much of the obesity issue is related to lack of activity and poor eating choices. Another aspect to consider is the lack of availability of “good food” in many parts of the inner city and the cost of produce and fruit for those on fixed and lower incomes. You would find the book “Nickel and Dimed” to be an interesting read to better describe this situation.
I have included a link from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) site for more information regarding the contribution of Genetics to obesity. http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/causes/index.html
I encourage you to continue espousing the importance of employers and other community leaders to promote health, but this is a very complex situation.
Also, you might be surprised to learn I am a staunch conservative and lifetime Republican.
Keep up the good work!
Dan Ryan
Good post Kimberly – I just wanted to echo one of the posts above . . . if you are not on an employer group health plan, you can expect the same individual scrutiny on your health insurance as with your auto, home or life. One really interesting trick / communication / PR ploy/ Total Rewards strategy is to create a few scenarios of typical people in your work force. Age, gender, smoking or not, previous cancer or not, etc. And include the premium amount for coverage if this person were to buy insurance on their own in the open market. The fact is, not only is the employer delivering value to the employee by paying 80 – 90% of the group premium – they are offering group rates, which is huge!