Employers Tell Workers to Get Healthy or Pay Up
Victoria E. Knight
Wall Street Journal
In an effort to motivate workers to kick unhealthy habits, U.S. companies are hitting them where it hurts: in their wallets.
Employers who provide health insurance often use financial incentives, such as contributions toward premiums, to encourage workers to participate in wellness programs like smoking-cessation courses.
Now some employers are wielding a stick as well as a carrot. Employees at some companies who are overweight, smoke, or have high cholesterol, for instance, and who don't participate in supplementary wellness programs, will pay more for health insurance. In extreme cases, employees' insurance deductibles could rise by $2,000.
"The bottom line," says Tom Parry, president of the Integrated Benefits Institute, a nonprofit focused on health issues, "is that employers want to see results."
But meddling in workers' lifestyles through financial penalties risks lawsuits, say some consultants and lawyers. Indeed, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says it is looking into wellness programs to see if they sometimes violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.
December 4, 2007 at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Blog Reactions
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