A chain of hospitals in Utah that are owned by HCA MountainStar is going to be doing something unique with the employer sponsored health insurance that the group offers to its employees. Starting next year, there will be separate health insurance options available to workers, depending on whether or not they submitted to a health screening.
Six hospitals in Utah that are owned by HCA MountainStar are changing their eligibility for some employer sponsored health insurance plans, starting in 2012. Employees will be asked to submit to annual screenings. I’m not sure if this new idea qualifies as a form of incentive, or if it is really a way to punish workers whose health care will be more expensive for the hospital chain to cover.
The employees who agree to be weighed, and to have their blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels checked will be able to choose from three different types of health insurance policies. Employees who submit to more extensive, individualized, health assessments will have $500.00 added to their Health Reimbursement Accounts.
Employees who refuse to submit to these screenings will only be offered one type of health insurance plan. That one will be a high-deductible plan with low premiums and high out of pocket expenses. In other words, those that cannot prove they are healthy will end up with a more expensive health insurance policy than their healthier co-workers.
Employers, including hospital chains, are always looking for ways to control costs. One way to do that is to encourage employees to become healthier. This Utah hospital chain is giving better insurance options to employees who do annual health screenings. Other businesses have offered discounts on the cost of premiums for employees who participate in wellness programs.
A study done in 2010 by Harvard researchers found that every dollar a company spends on an employee wellness program results in savings for the company. They save $3.27 in medical costs, and $2.73 as a result of reduced absenteeism. One can assume that healthy employees don’t need to take as many sick days as the least healthy employees would need.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) is what legally gives companies and businesses the right to give workers that choose to participate in wellness programs certain types of rewards. The company can offer discounts on premiums, rebates, and other types of rewards that total to up to 20% of the cost of that employee’s health care coverage. In 2014, national health reform will raise that amount to 30%.
Even with those rules in place, employers are not allowed to discriminate between healthy workers and less healthy workers. The rules have to be the same for everyone. Even so, companies are allowed to require employees to submit to health screenings and wellness programs in order to qualify for the least expensive health insurance options.
Companies are allowed to give rebates or discounts to employees who reach a certain health target. This could mean exercising a certain number of times each week, or cutting out sugar. Companies are not allowed to penalize workers who do not lose weight, or who do not stop smoking.
Image by Colin Dunn on Flickr