AL Extends Health Care Surcharge to Crack Down on
Obesity
September 5, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Beginning in
2010, Alabama will start charging all of its employees an
extra $25 per month for health insurance.
The fee is part of a controversial new program
designed to reduce health care costs and encourage a
healthy workforce. Workers can avoid the fee by getting a
check up at an in-office wellness center where nurses
will check for diabetes and hypertension; and measure
blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose levels and Body Mass
Index (BMI), according to a Fox News report.
Workers who "flunk" the BMI exam will be required
to see a doctor and will have to show proof of their
attempt to lose weight to avoid the surcharge. Workers
who refuse to get the check-up will have to pay the $25
regardless of their fit level.
"There are folks walking around with diabetes and
hypertension that don't even know it, and it's just a
matter of time before something catastrophic happens to
them," William Ashmore, executive director of the Alabama
State Employees' Insurance Board, said in the news
report. "If we can get people to manage their health,
we'll have healthier employees and less health care
costs."
Critics say Alabama's program borders on
discrimination by using obesity, which is medically
categorized as a disease, as its benchmark.
Alabama
already charges smokers a monthly fee, as do a number of
other states (See
Peach State Slaps on $40 Employee Smoking
Surcharge
).
Rebecca Moore
editors@plansponsor.com