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Originally Posted by Terroreyes
I think I know what you're talking about now. I've heard of simliar plans. Excellent idea. If I'm correct, in a nut shell, you pay according to your lifestyle(healthwise). I smoke and have no problem with paying more than someone who doesn't, but on the same note, if I didn't smoke, I wouldn't want to be paying the same as the fat 300# slob eating Burger King every day.
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We don't charge people by the "lifestyle". There are two ways to approach incentives in a medical plan. The more aggressive is to incent people for reducing their risk...ie to quit smoking. We are taking a different approach. We help identify risk and offer to help them change their behavior. They earn the incentive for participating, not for making changes. However, we are finding that the many individauls only need a slight nudge to make a change and that the knowledge of how to accomplish it is all they need.
I have a significant challenge for 2011, as our Board of Directors and CEO would like to charge smokers more for their medical insurance and the latest from Washington is that nicotine is addictive (we all know that), but also that penalizing or incenting smokers to quit is lot legal according to ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act).
The battle goes on, but we are making a lot of progress with our 5,000 employees and it is paying off financially.