Are
you
wondering
whether
you
can
charge
your
employees
to
offset
the
cost
of
their
unhealthy
lifestyle
choices,
or
to
motivate
healthy
behavior
changes?
Apparently
you
can. Per
a
recent
Market
Watch
article:
"According to a Hewitt survey released earlier this year, almost half of large U.S. employers say they currently use or plan to use financial penalties over the next three to five years for employees who do not participate in certain health improvement programs. Such penalties will likely take the form of higher health insurance premiums or deductibles, or higher out-of-pocket expenses than employees who are deemed healthy must pay."
A
member
of
Chief Executive
Boards
International
sent
me
an
article from
MarketWatch
that
included
various
ways
you
might
help
recover
your
costs
of
unhealthy
behavior
or
(better
yet)
motivate
changes
in
lifestyle
choices:
- Raise all deductibles, perhaps to $2000, with a $500 credit for those participating in screening for cholesterol, blood pressure, tobacco risks, etc.
- Higher premium copays for smokers
- 10% premiuim copay discount for non-smokers or smokers who enroll in a smoke-cessation program
- Higher premium copays for those with high body-mass indices
- 10% premium copay discount for participation in wellness or exercise programs
