Charging the Unhealthy More For Insurance

Joe The Dragon sends us a BusinessWeek story, run on Yahoo, about Clarian Health and the new thing they are trying with health insurance coverage for their employees. They are charging unhealthy people more. The article goes into some depth about whether this is a good idea and whether the practice might spread. "In late June, the Indianapolis-based hospital system announced that starting in 2009, it will fine employees $10 per paycheck if their body mass index (BMI, a ratio of height to weight that measures body fat) is over 30. If their cholesterol, blood pressure, and glucose levels are too high, they'll be charged $5 for each standard they don't meet. Ditto if they smoke: Starting next year, they'll be charged another $5 in each check."

Comments

and if you have a slashdot account

[JeanBaptiste]

thats another 20

Re:and if you have a slashdot account

[PFI_Optix]

it's just that the BMI is a pretty useless measure of someone's health.

Agreed. My BMI is 57, and I feel just fine thank you very much.

Now help a brotha out...I can't reach the remote and I can't get up off the couch. Could you change it to channel 114 and pass the Doritos?

Where will this madness end?

[Anonymous Coward]

Charging drivers with more accidents higher rates for auto insurance?

Form of Discrimination?

[deadmantyping]

That sounds like it could be considered a form of discrimination. I doubt that obese people would take this move lightly.

Re:What's the problem?

[Joebert]

Agreed, & I have a solution.

We should gather every employee in a room & stand them on a table one-by-one, if the majority of the room thinks that person is a fat bastard, that person gets charged more.

Great idea!

[HangingChad]

We should gather every employee in a room & stand them on a table one-by-one...

Yeah! We could hire people the same way. Let different departments bid on them. Make them take their shirts off and show their teeth so you know they're nice and healthy. And, just for their safety and protection, we might want to chain them together, so they don't get scared and fall off the table. And maybe a small but tasteful whip, strictly to make sure things move along and people don't waste all day bidding on new employees. And make them sing worker songs, because people really like that. Swiiiing low, sweet cub-i-cle wor-ker...headed for the break room at niiiiiine. That's my favorite.

Dang, it seems so obvious. Why hasn't anyone thought of that before?

Re:you're making a joke but

[JazzLad]

But what you don't see is your lack of buoyancy increases your risk of drowning - why should a healthy tub-o like me have to pay for that? ;)