Comments on: Forced To Be Fit At Work?

With Health Care Costs Soaring, Some Employers Are Giving An Ultimatum: Shape Up Or Pay Up

[mswolfestock]

These "Get Healthy Or Else" plans will always be unfair as long as they fail to offer bonuses or rewards to the people who have always been healthy. I think they''d be giving the fatties all the incentive they need to lose weight if they offered free health care to those who don''t smoke, are not overweight, and who have low cholesterol and low blood pressure. Then the bosses wouldn''t be judged as unfair. The fatties could have free health care when they lost weight; the smokers could get free health care when they quit smoking. They will always meet with opposition and resentment when they fail to reward the existing good behavior instead of punishing the bad behavior.

[hou54]

I think it is great that there are companies who provide for their employees to be healthy. But what about the companies who expect their employees to work 10 hours a day, with no lunch or breaks, how are they expected to be healthy when you have kids to get off to school, get yourself ready, get to work and then leave your job at 5:00 or 6:00 to get home and make a healthy supper, help with homework, and all the other things that need done. If companies want their employees to become fit they should also provide a time for their employees to walk or have some type of exercise. The employees who are able to release some of their stress which is a major reason for being unhealthy, you work with a better attitude because you feel they care about you not just a cheaper way for them to have more money for themselves. I applaud the companies who have made it accessible for their employees to get and remain healthy. Those workers are happy, and yes there is always the ones who ruin it for the employees who appreciate the extras.

[ianlou]

think it''''s great. Why should healthy people be forced to pay more in premiums to cover the fat pigs. Stop eating the doughnuts.
Posted by zoltaric at 09:30 AM : Nov 07, 2007

Will this form of insurance be applied to our Fat-a$$ed public officials? Hell No, they have the best insurance or tax dollars can buy.

[lonestartnow]

Even with a plan such as the one Benton County put in place, you still can''t force people to change if they simply don''t want to. I''m co-founder of the LoneStart Wellness Initiative, and this is something we see on a regular basis. And, we will all see more of it because it costs us all. Even though individuals may resent being told they "must lose weight and become more physically active," those who do find their lives changed--for the better. We recently learned from a hospital in Kerr County Texas that implemented our program for their employees that with just a 17 percent participation rate and in less than a year, they saw their insurance costs drop 9.1 percent, a savings of about $46,400 per month. Utilization was reduced as were incident rate and claims. It''s absolutely true, healthier employees, healthier individuals lead to substantial savings--and more importantly, long-term health and wellness.

[kymberlyjj]

My name is Kym Jackson and I was on the forced to be fit story last night. When they told us that they were going to start testing us I hated it. I thought what right do they have to make their employees take these tests. Not only I''m I over weight, I''m diabetic and I''m a smoker. But I started to look at it like "I''m 28 years old and I can''t pass the five point of health" That got me going. I have a four year old and I don''t want him to grow up without a mom. Now that I have lost 97lb I passed the BMI, and my sugar levels are in normal range. I feel like a different person. (In a good way) I have about 15lb to loss before I get to MY goal not the county and I plan to quit smoking at that time. I thank the county for bringing my health issue to my attention. This program is not a bad thing. You can not take the tests and have a 2,500 deductable or you can take the tests and get credit for the ones you pass.

[rushman71]

Stop eating the doughnuts.

Posted by zoltaric

I agree!!! Danm cops need to concentrate on public safety, not doughnuts!!! LOL

[zoltaric]

I think it''s great. Why should healthy people be forced to pay more in premiums to cover the fat pigs. Stop eating the doughnuts.

[jeansmith]

I can not believe that the "Land of the Free" has taken so many freedoms away from us. Whatever happened to being tolerant of people and their differences. Many overweight people do not engage in unhealthy eating habits. They have a medical reason why they are overweight.
Blood pressure and high cholesterol may also have hereditary factors. Who decides if someone has OK reasons for this or not? Who has set themselves up to judge others?
I think if someone wants me to quit smoking, then by rights I can tell them there will be no more driving cars. They are polluting my "healthy air". Likewise, they will no longer be able to manufacture and produce because the smoke billowing out of the factory is harming my health.
I understand that I have a "higher risk" than a non-smoker of having cancer. This is not a GUARANTEE that I will get cancer, just that I am more likely to get it. We have all heard of people that smoke like a chimney well into their nineties with no problems other than old age, just as the person who never smoked a day in their life that gets cancer. Lifestyle is not a guarantee of health, only a probability. (Wasn''''t there a marathon runner who dropped dead during the first 5 miles of the race)
What I''''m saying is that if I get in an accident on the way home from work today, my life style or lack there of is of no concern to anybody but myself, and the hypocritical people who want to inflict their interests and values on me will have made no difference in the end result.

[jeansmith]

I can not believe that the "Land of the Free" has taken so many freedoms away from us. Whatever happened to being tolerant of people and their differences. Many overweight people do not engage in unhealthy eating habits. They have a medical reason why they are overweight.
Blood pressure and high cholesterol may also have hereditary factors. Who decides if someone has OK reasons for this or not? Who has set themselves up to judge others?
I think if someone wants me to quit smoking, then by rights I can tell them there will be no more driving cars. They are polluting my "healthy air". Likewise, they will no longer be able to manufacture and produce because the smoke billowing out of the factory is harming my health.
I understand that I have a "higher risk" than a non-smoker of having cancer. This is not a GUARANTEE that I will get cancer, just that I am more likely to get it. We have all heard of people that smoke like a chimney well into their nineties with no problems other than old age, just as the person who never smoked a day in their life that gets cancer. Lifestyle is not a guarantee of health, only a probability. (Wasn''''t there a marathon runner who dropped dead during the first 5 miles of the race)
What I''''m saying is that if I get in an accident on the way home from work today, my life style or lack there of is of no concern to anybody but myself, and the hypocritical people who want to inflict their interests and values on me will have made no difference in the end result.

[ianlou]

Big Brother wins again.
This is the new flavor of ******* Insurance.