Published
October 29, 2004
Smoke
Cigarettes? Eat Junk Food? Pay up
Local companies
predict punishing employees for bad health habits will be a
last resort
By Christina Olenchek,
staff writer
For employees at a
growing number of companies nationwide, lighting up a cigarette
or eating an extra helping of pie could mean paying more for
health insurance.
General Mills Inc. and Union Pacific Corp. are among several
businesses punishing workers who live unhealthy lifestyles.
Minneapolis-based General Mills asks smokers to pay an extra
$20 per month for health care coverage. Union Pacific
of Omaha, Neb., stopped hiring smokers in seven states where
it does business.
Although personal responsibility is on the minds of Central
Pennsylvania employers trying to curb health insurance costs,
several observers believe that area companies will be slow to
take a tougher approach toward employees who do not adopt health
habits.
However, some observers said punitive meaures could become more
popular among Central Pennsylvania employers if efforts such
as cost-shifting and health savings accounts fail to stem increases
in health insurance premiums.
"If they exhausted all their opportunities, I see those
punitive measures being seen as an option further down the list,"
said Tom Henschke of SMC Business Councils, a small-business
trade association.
It is understandable why some companies struggling with insurance
costs would consider charging smokers or obese employees extra,
several observers said. However, many felt such policies
would do more harm than good. Policies could create workplace
animosity said Ira
Wolfe, founder and owner of Success
Performance Solutions, a work-force consulting firm in Lancaster
County.
Employee who have to pay more might feel aliented from other
workers, he said.
The policy also could
hinder a company's ability to attract and retain top employees,
said Henschke, director of SMC's central region office in Wormleysburg.
"Good people are hare to find," Henschke said.
"You can't risk losing good employees."
Companies that adopt punitive policies risk violating laws such
as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of
1996.
The privacy regulations in HIPAA require providers, insurers
and employers to try hard to protect the privacy of health care
information.
Despite some observers' uneasiness over punitive measure, Dr.
William W. Lander thinks the measures might be just what some
employees need to give up bad habits. Lander is president
of Pennsylvania Medical Society in Lower Paxton Township.
Asking some employees to pay more for health insurance might
seems unfair to some workers in the short run, but such a request
could lower everyone's future insurance costs, said Lander,
whos also is a family doctor in Bryn Mawr, Montgomery County.
"Monetary incentives do have an effect on people, "
he said. "....I think it would be great if smokers
had to pay more for insurance."
Employers can use other tactics before turning to punitive measures,
said Betsy Aumiller, director of adult education and e-leanring
at the Susan P. Byrnes Health Education Center in York.
The center helps area companies with wellness efforts.
One option is health-savings accounts, which employees can use
for medical expenses. The idea behind such accounts, which
often are paired with high deductible insurance plans, is that
consumers will use health-care dollars more responsibly if they
are forced to control their spending. "Every employee
is on a level playing field with (health savings accounts),"
Aumiller said. "I think that is fairer."
York Water Co, has turned to a wellness program that includes
group walks and annual health fairs.
The company has not considered punitive measures against people
whl live unhealthy lifestyles, said Bruce McIntosh, the company's
vice president of human resources.
"We haven't considered it," McIntosh said.
"...We're focusing more on wellness and trying to be as
positive as possible."
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