CVS to Penalize Workers $600 for Not Revealing Their Weight
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summertime_girl
Posts: 3,945 Member
Cord Jefferson
In an effort better manage its healthcare costs, the pharmacy brand CVS Caremark is now asking all employees who use company health insurance to have doctors assess their weight and body fat, among other things, measurements that will then be turned over to CVS' insurer. The company is calling the assessment, which it will provide, "a health screening and wellness review so that colleagues know their key health metrics in order to take action to improve their numbers, if necessary." Any employee who chooses to opt out of the screening will have their health coverage jump $50 per month, according to the Boston Herald.
No CVS employee will have access to others' health information, but privacy activists are angry with the plan, nonetheless. A spokesperson for the group Patient Privacy Rights told the Herald that CVS is being "incredibly coercive and invasive." Alas, the Huffington Post reports that health screenings will probably increase in the age of Obama's Affordable Care Act:
Obamacare could make such practices more common. The health care reform law allows employers to levy a higher penalty against workers who don't participate in company wellness programs. In some cases, workers could also have to pay more if they don't meet certain health targets like appropriate body mass index.
Thanks, Obama!
In 2010, Whole Foods attempted to curb employee weight gain by giving thinner staffers a greater employee discount than fatter ones. And in 2008, Japanese health authorities began fining companies that couldn't get their employees' weights down.
In an effort better manage its healthcare costs, the pharmacy brand CVS Caremark is now asking all employees who use company health insurance to have doctors assess their weight and body fat, among other things, measurements that will then be turned over to CVS' insurer. The company is calling the assessment, which it will provide, "a health screening and wellness review so that colleagues know their key health metrics in order to take action to improve their numbers, if necessary." Any employee who chooses to opt out of the screening will have their health coverage jump $50 per month, according to the Boston Herald.
No CVS employee will have access to others' health information, but privacy activists are angry with the plan, nonetheless. A spokesperson for the group Patient Privacy Rights told the Herald that CVS is being "incredibly coercive and invasive." Alas, the Huffington Post reports that health screenings will probably increase in the age of Obama's Affordable Care Act:
Obamacare could make such practices more common. The health care reform law allows employers to levy a higher penalty against workers who don't participate in company wellness programs. In some cases, workers could also have to pay more if they don't meet certain health targets like appropriate body mass index.
Thanks, Obama!
In 2010, Whole Foods attempted to curb employee weight gain by giving thinner staffers a greater employee discount than fatter ones. And in 2008, Japanese health authorities began fining companies that couldn't get their employees' weights down.
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I currently see no problem with penalizing people who live certain unhealthy lifestyles in certain situations. Reckless drivers pay more for car insurance. The more that people use healthcare services for largely preventable conditions, like obesity- and smoking-related conditions, the faster healthcare costs will rise for everyone. Education hasn't worked thus far so it's time to try something new. I realize, however, that this is a difficult situation. Weight loss is difficult and there are lots of things working against us biologically, but that doesn't mean we should just ignore the situation.
I agree with Whole Foods and CVS's policies, but I disagree with the Japanese government's approach. I don't think a whole company should be fined for its employees' actions.
I think it would be hypocritical for anyone who advocates individual responsibility to be against passing healthcare costs along to those who choose an unhealthy lifestyle.0 -
I do think there is a difference in intent and interpretation of the law here - penalising employees for failing to take part in "wellness programs" is rather different from insisting they submit to a screening by an insurance company. Is CVS planning to offer employees gym memberships, or pedometers, or enhanced access to other forms of physical activity, with company-wide incentives for participation and/or success, or healthy-eating incentives (or access in staff canteens), or just checks on BMI/Body fat percentage etc? What will the end-result be for those whose metrics are disliked by the insurance co, who may, in some cases, be healthier than their lighter colleagues? The opt-out penalty is clear, but not the course of action for those who do not opt out, partially to avoid the penalty, one assumes, but may then, presumably, be hit by even higher penalties if they don't measure up!0
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Actually, I just talked to my co-worker about this... her husband is a CVS store manager... they aren't taking $600 out of their paycheck or anything... what is happening is they are being given an incentive of $800 (she said this) and they reduce it when certian things aren't met, such as being a healthy weight. They have to go to their Minute Clinic (at least around here where there are Minute Clinics) and consult with the NP there for their health assessment. It's not like they are being weighed in front of the manager... at least not here. They are doing something they have been wanting to for a while and are using Obamacare as an excuse to do so.
ETA: Also I agree with unhealthy people paying more for premiums... Why must I pay for the consequences of smokers or alcoholics or severely overweight people? It's a choice you make, not me... and it is you that should deal with the consequences, not me. My health insurance premiums went up in part because diagnosed diabetics weren't getting the care they need.... so what? I get to pay for the people that work around me because they aren't getting their insulin or their glucose monitoring supplies? That's not my fault nor my decision so why must I pay for it?0 -
My company does this. They started about two years ago and it actually comes from the insurer. They provide discounts to the company if they put their employees through a wellness program. If you choose to not take part, your insurance charges go up because you chose to not take part in the process that provides the discount.
I have a confused view about it because it was the original wellness review that led me to come here but I am also conscious of the slippery slope potential of the policy.0 -
My gripe with this is if they only take into account BMI. For example, my husband is somewhere around 260 pounds. At 6'1", that technically makes him obese, by BMI standards. But, as a powerlifter (with the state records to back it up!) he's 260 pounds of solid muscle. If he's 15% body fat, I'd be surprised.
Or me, for example. I'm still well into the overweight category. But I eat very clean, and exercise at least 1000 calories 5-6 times a week. I run half marathons, I run Tough Mudders, I'm in good shape cardio-vascularly. Except for what the scale reflects. I don't want to be penalized because I'm 20-30 pounds over what my ideal weight is, when I'm in much better shape than a lot of people.0 -
My gripe with this is if they only take into account BMI. For example, my husband is somewhere around 260 pounds. At 6'1", that technically makes him obese, by BMI standards. But, as a powerlifter (with the state records to back it up!) he's 260 pounds of solid muscle. If he's 15% body fat, I'd be surprised.
Or me, for example. I'm still well into the overweight category. But I eat very clean, and exercise at least 1000 calories 5-6 times a week. I run half marathons, I run Tough Mudders, I'm in good shape cardio-vascularly. Except for what the scale reflects. I don't want to be penalized because I'm 20-30 pounds over what my ideal weight is, when I'm in much better shape than a lot of people.
At least on our wellness survey, BMI and such is one page of about 20. A larger portion of the questions are lifestyle questions such as stress levels, amount of sleep, smoking, driving, illness, amount of exercise, etc.0 -
My gripe with this is if they only take into account BMI. For example, my husband is somewhere around 260 pounds. At 6'1", that technically makes him obese, by BMI standards. But, as a powerlifter (with the state records to back it up!) he's 260 pounds of solid muscle. If he's 15% body fat, I'd be surprised.
Or me, for example. I'm still well into the overweight category. But I eat very clean, and exercise at least 1000 calories 5-6 times a week. I run half marathons, I run Tough Mudders, I'm in good shape cardio-vascularly. Except for what the scale reflects. I don't want to be penalized because I'm 20-30 pounds over what my ideal weight is, when I'm in much better shape than a lot of people.
I see no reason to gripe at this point. BMI isn't completely uninformative and I doubt it's the only thing they're taking into account. Maybe k8blujay2 could ask her coworker about this.0 -
My gripe with this is if they only take into account BMI. For example, my husband is somewhere around 260 pounds. At 6'1", that technically makes him obese, by BMI standards. But, as a powerlifter (with the state records to back it up!) he's 260 pounds of solid muscle. If he's 15% body fat, I'd be surprised.
Or me, for example. I'm still well into the overweight category. But I eat very clean, and exercise at least 1000 calories 5-6 times a week. I run half marathons, I run Tough Mudders, I'm in good shape cardio-vascularly. Except for what the scale reflects. I don't want to be penalized because I'm 20-30 pounds over what my ideal weight is, when I'm in much better shape than a lot of people.
I see no reason to gripe at this point. BMI isn't completely uninformative and I doubt it's the only thing they're taking into account. Maybe k8blujay2 could ask her coworker about this.
From what I understand is it's a comprehensive wellness survey... not JUST weight or BMI. The CVS here in our area uses the same insurance company that where I work does. I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't a similar program to ours where we have certian goals we have to meet (and it's all based on a point system) and at the end of the year we get a certian dollar amount that corresponds to a point tier. However, they may be making people pay extra in premiums for things like smoking... which ours does not do... I would think they would give some leeway, particularly since it's a medical professional that is conducting the assessment and not say a store manager, to people with higher BMI's but lower bodyfat.0 -
At least on our wellness survey, BMI and such is one page of about 20. A larger portion of the questions are lifestyle questions such as stress levels, amount of sleep, smoking, driving, illness, amount of exercise, etc.
How is that all verified? Wouldn't people just lie?0 -
At least on our wellness survey, BMI and such is one page of about 20. A larger portion of the questions are lifestyle questions such as stress levels, amount of sleep, smoking, driving, illness, amount of exercise, etc.
How is that all verified? Wouldn't people just lie?
quite true.0 -
My company has us participate in a "wellnss survey" once a year, and by doing it, we are eligible for a "discount" on our health insurance premiums.
It's self-reported info, you could certainly lie.
And on several of the answers, you can say "I don't know" such as your blood pressure, or your cholesterol numbers.
I scored a 98, telling the truth. :bigsmile:0 -
At least on our wellness survey, BMI and such is one page of about 20. A larger portion of the questions are lifestyle questions such as stress levels, amount of sleep, smoking, driving, illness, amount of exercise, etc.
How is that all verified? Wouldn't people just lie?
The typical wellness assessments (at least ours anyway) are all on the honor system... could people lie? Sure, but what benefit would there be to that? For our program the assessment is only an entry into the program, our insurance representatives don't even see it, but they do see and verify things throughout the year... like actual weight. Whether we have gone to the doctors for our annual check ups... what our A1C is (which they don't record the numbers or keep the documentation they just want to see that it's less than 7 or that steps have been made to improve it... we have a book that we get and then take to our nurses who then sign it to verify the points) or blood pressure. So for someone to lie on the assessment (for us) would be futile... they may get more or less junkmail from the insurance company, but at this point that's it.0
