2013 Health Insurance

[gooddecisions]

Like clockwork, my health insurance increased for the 13 consecutive year since I've maintained my own. My payroll deduction went from 3160 a year to 3994 a year (for the same plan), but my company will subsidize another $500 if we do a health screening and assessment. They want a doctor to provide blood pressure, height, weight, and waist measurement during a health screening process. They want employees to complete a questionnaire to assess overall health. This is the first year they've asked for that. What do you suppose they will do with this information? I'm going to do it, of course to get that $500 subsidy.

How much did your contribution to health insurance go up from last year and has your company requested health screenings and assessments?

[frep]

Where my wife works they have actually have a separate option, (cheaper premiums), if you do a health assessment as you described where they look at your height, weight, blood pressure, BMI, etc.  If your results are good enough compared to whatever health guidelines they use you can enroll in the cheaper option.

[Rocky Mtn Saver]

As to why they like health assessments, there are several reasons. 

It's cheaper to find out about problems and treat them when they are either small problems (like weight) or to do preventative care (annual exams).  When we are made aware of some problems, we are more likely to address them.  We might even change the behavior simply by the act of becoming aware of it.  The company can also offer personalized aids to individuals with particular situations.  For example, if they know that I don't get much exercise, they might offer a personalized plan or coaching to help me resolve this.  Again, many things are cheaper to prevent than to wait until I show up in the ER with a coronary event. 

Plus, the more the insurance company can understand about its covered employees, the more they can target how to keep the pool healthy in general.  If the people are mostly overweight but few smoke, the company can know to put its money into nutrition aids rather than smoking cessation programs.  And they can use future assessments to see if the programs they offer to covered persons or groups is having any effect, or is worth their investment. 

[gooddecisions]

A subsidized gym membership would be a nice outcome, but something tells me that's not going to happen.