I just read what I find to be a disturbing article in Business Week entitled, "Get Healthy - Or Else" (click on the title of this post to go to the Business Week website). It is about a company that is regulating employee behavior (smoking, weight loss, exercise) to mitigate the rising costs of health insurance provided by the company. If you don't join the program, your insurance premiums go up while everyone on the program enjoys lower premiums.
I don't have a solution to how companies can reduce the cost of providing health insurance to their employees, but I do know that quitting smoking and losing weight are two personal struggles that people need to come to terms with on their own. They need to be ready to make the changes in their life, not be deemed unhealthy by their employer and forced into behavior they aren't comfortable with. The employer isn't respecting the dignity of their employees. These employers don't care about their employees and the fact that they are being self-destructive. They just care about the bottom-line.
Monday, February 19, 2007
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2 comments:
Hi :o)
Thanks for the comment on my blog! It's funny, but being over weight and alcohol seem to go together. The only big freind i have, who doesn't also over enjoy drinking, cant drink because she is alergic to alcohol. Wish i was!!
Re your post, it is hard for both employers who want to minimise overheads, and employees who have the right to be who they are at whatever stage in their lives. I think in Japan they have exercise classes during work hours, I'd be into that, because i'd have to chance to talk myself out of doing it :o)
Cactusfreek, you are too funny! They had exercise classes at the company I did my internship at last summer. They were completely optional, but it totally stressed me out watching these people on the grass outside busting their asses. I would definitely talk myself out of doing it too if I was cornered!
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