Safeway says it's a smart incentive: charging lower premiums for people who lose weight, quit smoking or start exercising. Some medical groups say it's a new way to exclude pre-existing conditions.
Jump to full article: Orlando (FL) Sentinel, 2009-11-04
Author: Janet Hook
Intro: Who could object to rewarding people who quit smoking, lose weight or start to exercise? The American Cancer Society and the American Heart Assn., for starters.
Some companies are charging lower insurance premiums to workers who meet benchmarks for healthy living. The Senate's healthcare overhaul legislation would expand the trend.
But instead of cheering the proposal, some patient advocacy and health groups are worried that it could mean higher rates for less-fit Americans, possibly pricing them out of their employers' insurance plans.
"It is a way of cherry-picking," said Dick Woodruff, senior director of federal affairs for the American Cancer Society. "We are all for workplace wellness, but when you tie it to the insurance pricing system, it's a real problem."
Critics of the Senate proposal also say that giving special treatment to those who meet a company's fitness standards could undercut one of the marquee promises of the Democrats' proposed overhaul: preventing employers and insurers from discriminating against people on the basis of their health status and preexisting medical conditions.
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Opponents hope to water down the Senate provision in the legislative maneuvering ahead. A coalition of patient-advocacy and health groups said in a letter to Congress: "We believe that provisions increasing premium variations allowed under current law can -- if used unwisely -- be a back door to making coverage to the sick unaffordable."
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