PrintBy Shawn McKee
Staff Writer
America needs help. With obesity rates on the rise and health insurance costs out of control, Americans are struggling to stay healthy. Obesity and smoking are two of the top risk factors for a number of ailments, as well as America’s No. 1 killer: heart disease.
The question then becomes: How can we get Americans healthy?
It seems that North Carolina has come up with a plan and is following in the footsteps of other states to penalize state employees for unhealthy behaviors. State workers who qualify as obese will face higher insurance rates starting in July 2011, and tobacco users will pay higher prices starting in July 2010.
The idea of unhealthy behaviors increasing insurance costs is not new; most public health insurance plans already penalize smokers and give discounts to nonsmokers, but increasing cost for obese Americans leads some to believe that local governments are overstepping their authority.
South Carolina state employees who smoke will be paying an additional $25 per month on their insurance rates starting in January, much like Kentucky and Georgia, while other states like Alabama give nonsmokers a discount.
Alabama has been on the forefront of improving the health of its employees. State workers have through January to get a free health screening to determine health risk factors like high blood pressure, cholesterol and obesity that could increase — or decrease — the cost of their insurance. (Learn more about the Alabama plan.)
North Carolina hopes to save lives and money with this new plan for a healthier workforce. Last year alone, the state spent $2.6 billion covering the health plans of more than 600,000 state employees, teachers and retirees.
“Tobacco use and poor nutrition and inactivity are the leading causes of preventable deaths in our state,” says Anne Rogers, director of integrated health management with the N.C. State Employees Health Plan. “We’re trying to encourage individuals to adopt healthy lifestyles.”
But is this type of “encouragement” really helpful? Something clearly must be done about the growing obesity problem in this country, but is this form of punitive persuasion the answer?
“It may work for some but not for many, especially those who have serious, chronic diseases and have been battling weight and health issues for a long period of time,” warns eDiets Director of Nutrition Services Pamela Ofstein. “I think it’s helpful that the states are taking notice of the obesity problem but do have some reservations on the overall approach.”
While it is too early to know whether these strategies are effective, the rest of the country will surely be watching and waiting to see if these states have the answer for improving workers’ health and bringing health care costs down.
Should states encourage healthy lifestyles or enforce rules against unhealthy habits? Should it be left to the individual? Weigh in by commenting below.
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