115 Day Countdown

helaurin

My employer does an annual wellness check in early April. As part of this check, they measure employee's waists. If you waist is too large (35" or greater for women, 40" or greater for men), it's a risk factor. If you have 3 or more risk factors on the day they do this check, you get hit with a health insurance premium surcharge for the entire next calendar year.

One of my risk factors is my weight (and accompanying waist size). Although the date in is still about 115 days away, I know I tend to lose weight slowly and sometimes not at all. Another risk factor is that my HDL tends to be low; last year I was marked as a risk because my HDL missed the desired minimum by one point, despite my best efforts to increase it.

I'm looking for suggestions for motivating, creating some sort of reasonable goal/reward system to work from now until the employer's annual weigh-in. My hope is to lose about 1/2 pound on average each week, or about 9 more pounds between now and then.

blueakama

Think of some nice small things you would like as treats to reward yourself as you reach your mini-goals. Say for every two weeks or for every pound.

Also have a bigger treat for when you reach your goal.

middlehaitch

Ask Father Christmas for a digital food scale and start counting your calories once the holidays are over. Starting now will be just too stressful.
.5lb is a reasonable goal, so you may want to look at staring an exercise routine once you have got the calorie counting sorted it may help your waistline a little and will certainly help with your health problems.
Diet = weight loss
Exercise= health.
A very basic explanation, but one you can work with.
Cheers, h.
Get a bracelet and buy a charm for each achievement.

helaurin

Already have a digital nutritional scale (Salter brand), and I've been counting/measuring/weighing pretty well now for awhile.

I was thinking of asking Father Christmas for that new Jawbone UP3 thingy, because I do like to swim (although I don't swim fast) and it's supposedly waterproof... otherwise, I'm just estimating calories used when I do swim. And it's supposed to somehow track sleep patterns, which might be good, as sometimes I'm up a few times in the night.

dramaqueen45

I thought people were protesting using health data to determine insurance rates because of HIPPA laws (I thought I heard it on the radio or something). Once, about 24 years ago, I was given the higher rate because we had to answer a health questionnaire (no one took measurements or anything). I was 23 years old and at a healthy weight, but I was pregnant. The thing about it is, because I took the job when I was three months along and because this was before the laws against denying covering due to a pre-existing condition, I was not even covered for the pregnancy because it was pre-existing. I complained about it but was told that it was because there might be complications due to the pregnancy that would cause a greater expense for the insurance company so I was charged the higher rate. Meanwhile, a co-worker who was obese and had high blood pressure and high cholesterol gets the lower rate (although I'm not sure if we reported blood pressure and cholesterol readings since it was just a questionnaire, but still- you had to report your weight and height). Figure that one out because I could not- even the co-worker could not because she reported several health issues on the questionnaire or so she said.

helaurin

dramaqueen45 wrote: »

I thought people were protesting using health data to determine insurance rates because of HIPPA laws (I thought I heard it on the radio or something). Once, about 24 years ago, I was given the higher rate because we had to answer a health questionnaire (no one took measurements or anything). I was 23 years old and at a healthy weight, but I was pregnant. The thing about it is, because I took the job when I was three months along and because this was before the laws against denying covering due to a pre-existing condition, I was not even covered for the pregnancy because it was pre-existing. I complained about it but was told that it was because there might be complications due to the pregnancy that would cause a greater expense for the insurance company so I was charged the higher rate. Meanwhile, a co-worker who was obese and had high blood pressure and high cholesterol gets the lower rate (although I'm not sure if we reported blood pressure and cholesterol readings since it was just a questionnaire, but still- you had to report your weight and height). Figure that one out because I could not- even the co-worker could not because she reported several health issues on the questionnaire or so she said.

Our company charges everyone the same base rate, but... if you or a covered spouse smokes, it's an extra $20/week for each person as a surcharge.

When they do the annual health assessment, if you have three or more conditions (waistline, etc.) then they will also charge a surcharge of $20/week extra. I squeaked by last year by having only two of the conditions (waist size and my HDL was one point too low), but I do want to be healthier and also avoid stressing out about it - which risks increasing my blood pressure which so far has been good, but during high-stress periods, can go up.

Our company might be permitted to do this because we are self-insured, not sure about other companies.

softblondechick

Wow. That is absolutely Draconian!

Although, 25 years ago, I was a flight attendant, had a baby, and had to be a size six when I went back to work in three weeks. You had to fit in the same uniform you were hired in...if you ever tried to order a larger size, you were brought in for "counseling".

helaurin

While it might seem Draconian... I understand why the company is doing this. Overweight, obese folks tend to drive up health insurance costs over time. As do tobacco users. Since the company is self-insured, I suspect they feel the pinch of rising health insurance costs keener than most companies that are pooled with other companies (spreading out the risk,etc.) Although I've lost almost 15 pounds since Nov. 11th, I don't feel like my body has done any downsizing yet in the waist size department, time will tell, either way.