At the beginning of every new year, there are thousands of people who make a New Year’s Resolution to lose weight. A health insurance company in Colorado is paying adults who live in that state to lose weight. Losing weight isn’t easy, but, a financial incentive might influence people to really try losing that extra weight this year.
It is called the “Weigh and Win” program. It is being offered to any adult who lives in Colorado, and is being run by Kaiser Permanente, an insurance company that sells health insurance. This insurer is spending a total of $500,000 to give this weight loss incentive program a jump start.
It works like this. First, you have to be an adult who lives in Colorado. This incentive program is not connected to employment at a particular company, and I don’t think you actually have to have health insurance with Kaiser Permanente in order to participate in “Weight and Win”.
This is very different from what Harvard Pilgrim Health Care is doing. Their program can only be used by people who have purchased a health insurance policy from Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.
For this incentive program, a customer first needs to be seen by a doctor. If the doctor refers the patient to a specialist, and the patient can find that same treatment for a lower price somewhere else, the insurer will pay that patient anywhere from $10.00 to $75.00.
People who get involved with “Weigh and Win” can earn anywhere from $15.00 to $150.00 every three months if they lose weight and manage to keep it off. There are twelve kiosks that have scales and a video camera located in medical facilities, recreation centers, libraries, and a furniture store in locations all over Colorado. The kiosks are where people can go to have their progress with weight loss recorded.
There are around 8,900 people in Colorado have signed up with this program since April of 2011. So far, the average weight loss for the people who participate in this program is about 12 pounds. The insurer has plans to add at least ten more kiosks in the next year. The program gives people access to grocery store shopping lists, recipes for healthy meals, reminders to work out, and a connection to a personal trainer.
Why would a health insurer spend thousands of dollars on a program that is designed to result in the insurer having to pay thousands of people periodic payouts? Part of the reason is that Kaiser Permanente recognizes that losing excess weight is a good way to prevent other types of diseases or conditions from developing, (or current ones from getting more severe).
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