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Nutrition and Weight Management -- according to my insurance

ceciliaslater
ceciliaslater Posts: 457 Member
edited November 27 in Social Groups
I took my wellness assessment for my health insurance today. I am currently bouncing around the 3-5 pounds over "healthy" BMI, so this is what it suggested I do:

e40h21iv05np.png

Sigh...

Guess I'll make an appointment to chat with my doctor about those five pesky pounds, as suggested. I'm sure he'd be thrilled.

Replies

  • totaloblivia
    totaloblivia Posts: 1,164 Member
    It could be worse! Could be telling you to eat low fat!
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    BMI can be skewed (for example if you have a higher muscle mass) and it doesn't necessarily mean you are not healthy, especially only 3-5 pounds over. I wouldn't make a special trip to see my doctor over that.
  • daylitemag
    daylitemag Posts: 604 Member
    Try plugging in 300lbs and see what it says. They may just send an ambulance automatically.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    daylitemag wrote: »
    Try plugging in 300lbs and see what it says. They may just send an ambulance automatically.

    LOL :D
  • Dragonwolf
    Dragonwolf Posts: 5,600 Member
    "Substitute fish, poultry...for meat dishes..."

    ...

    kpTtTh.jpg
  • elize7
    elize7 Posts: 1,088 Member
    Are you required to do this for insurance? Sounds so intrusive. It makes me mad just reading it. The Nerve!
  • ceciliaslater
    ceciliaslater Posts: 457 Member
    deksgrl wrote: »
    BMI can be skewed (for example if you have a higher muscle mass) and it doesn't necessarily mean you are not healthy, especially only 3-5 pounds over. I wouldn't make a special trip to see my doctor over that.

    I was just being snarky. No doctor trip for me!
    elize7 wrote: »
    Are you required to do this for insurance? Sounds so intrusive. It makes me mad just reading it. The Nerve!

    Yes, we're required to do it. Technically, it's optional. But there's a massive surcharge if you don't do it.

    This is through my husband's company insurance. They really don't have any benchmarks to beat, and it's self report. As long as you fill it out, you're fine, but I still don't appreciate having to do it. If we went through my company's insurance, we'd have to actually go to the doctor for screenings and you are required to pass 3 of the 5 benchmarks (waist circumference, BMI, blood pressure, cholesterol, no tobacco) in order to get the insurance discount. Also, if you do smoke, you not only fail that benchmark, but you are charged an $80 per month surcharge for your unhealthy habit. Now THAT is intrusive, IMHO.
    totaloblivia wrote: »
    It could be worse! Could be telling you to eat low fat!

    One of the questions in the nutrition and weight management section actually asked how many servings of fatty foods you eat in a day. The only other nutrition question was how many servings of high fiber foods you eat daily. Sigh...
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    ceciliaslater wrote: »
    deksgrl wrote: »
    BMI can be skewed (for example if you have a higher muscle mass) and it doesn't necessarily mean you are not healthy, especially only 3-5 pounds over. I wouldn't make a special trip to see my doctor over that.

    I was just being snarky. No doctor trip for me!

    Oh, whew. I wasn't sure. lol. We have an optional biometric screening at work, but they pay us a bonus to do it. Then if you have risk areas they offer programs you can do to help for weight loss or quitting smoking, etc.

  • carlsoda
    carlsoda Posts: 3,428 Member
    This is through my husband's company insurance. They really don't have any benchmarks to beat, and it's self report. As long as you fill it out, you're fine,

    We had to do this before with my insurance, I answered some of the questions with little white lies on the questionnaire. :) Turned out I was super healthy!!
  • Dragonwolf
    Dragonwolf Posts: 5,600 Member
    To be fair, smoking is pretty directly connected with a number of health issues that end up being expensive for everyone, so if you choose to smoke, it makes sense for the insurance company to start recouping some of those costs.

    That said, I had to do something similar for my husband's insurance, except it was more than a questionnaire. You had to do all sorts of program activities and "challenges." Having a Fitbit or other activity tracker linked to it made it a lot easier, because it automatically logged a bunch of stuff for the activities like walking/step counting, but several of the stuff really irritated me. My husband heard about the inanity many times! And yeah, I fudged a few of the things, like the exact amount of vegetables or fruit that I had in a given week (it tracked days instead of servings, and there would be days where I didn't have any, then days where I'd have something like 8 servings worth). They did do a physical from the doctor, and it had to be put in by the doctor, so there was no fudging that, so I failed the BMI part every time. What always cracked me up (in a sad, "that's so stupid" sort of way) was that my HDL, Trigs, and blood pressure were always pristine (my LDL is "borderline" according to the standard tests), but it would complain when I told it the amount of fat that I ate and be like "you're going to have a heart attack before you're 30!"
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