Every so often, I see a news story that just brings me up short. This one caught my eye today.
Apparently, the state of Alabama is trying to crack down on obesity by hitting its employees where they live – their pocketbooks. That’s right – if you work for the state of Alabama and you’re overweight, you’ll soon be paying $25.00 more per month for your health insurance as opposed to the employees who are not overweight. This adds up to $300.00 more per year.
The state is calling this a financial incentive to lose weight. I haven’t decided yet what I call it.
On the one hand, it is true that when you’re overweight, you do run a higher risk of certain illnesses and diseases, so perhaps you would be a bigger strain on the insurance than would a slimmer employee.
However, much of this is based on your constitution. I have many overweight friends who have better eating habits and lower cholesterol than their skinnier peers. You can’t arbitrarily say, “You’re fatter, so you are going to get sicker.”
I find myself disliking the term, financial incentive to lose weight. You know, if I gave up junk food, fast food, and treats, I’d be saving around $25.00 a month, if not more. Well, it all depends on the month. And the time of month. And what I’ve had to do that month. And who I’ve had to deal with that month . . . back on topic. $25.00 a month is not a whole lot of money, and yet, it is. To save me $25.00 a month doesn’t seem all that significant, but to charge me $25.00 a month, because I’m different, is quite a lot.
If we take into consideration that skinny people get sick too, doesn’t this seem vastly unfair? Why aren’t the right to work/equal opportunity activists all over this one? Overweight people have the right to hold jobs, and I believe they should have the same rights as persons who are smaller. If you can’t prove that your overweight employees use a certain percentage more of the insurance benefits than do your other employees, I don’t believe you have a right to do this. I don’t think you have a skinny legal leg to stand on.
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picture courtesy of Morguefile