Health insurance incentives may be coming to an office near you
Maybe this is a sign of insurance companies finally starting to come around. Quite honestly, it never really made much sense to me that health care companies will fight you tooth and nail to cover smaller procedures, yet coverage is provided for more severe and complicated surgeries (in many cases, anyway).
But, considering that the far more expensive major surgery could have been avoided in the first place if the smaller and less costly procedures were covered (and therefore taken care of by patients), it seems to only make sense that insurance companies are now beginning to reward healthy lifestyles.
In an article written in in the Los Angeles Times, several businesses were highlighted that are receiving extra "benefits" from their health insurance provider. In addition to their normal insurance coverage, companies such as Ottawa Dental Laboratory employees receive "bucks" -- a point accumulation system wherein said points can be redeemed by employees for merchandise -- for getting in shape, lowering their cholesterol, smoking cessation, or controlling their chronic conditions such as diabetes.
To help verify that an employee truly is becoming more fit, Destiny Health Insurance (Ottawa Dental's health insurance provider) require that fitness tests be performed twice a year, measuring agility and flexibility. Workers' blood pressure and cholesterol are also measured regularly, just as those claiming to have quit smoking must submit blood samples to test for nicotine. On top of all that, Destiny Health Insurance has partnered with Life Time Fitness. So, every time a member who is insured by Destiny scans their card at the gym, the instantly become accounted for in Destiny's database.
Is all of this 1984, Orwellian-type stuff worth it? Well, many of the employees at Ottawa Dental Lab seem to think so. Their "bucks" have bought them big screen TVs, GPS systems, Xbox 360, Bose speaker docks and iPods, and more. Other insurance companies, as well as employers, have followed suit, offering actual cash rewards and the like to incentivize employees to stay healthier, for they know that ill health can end up costing them more in the long run. With the country's aggregate medical expenses expected to reach $4 trillion in about a decade, this 'give a little to save a lot' approach may be the insurance company's first smart move in a while.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-22-2008 @ 6:41PM
John B. said...
This is nothing new. Insurance companies have been doing this for years. As a matter of fact, it is not new at all. Several companies have been trying these types of things and they haven't worked. Humana just discontined "Health Miles," which gave you premiums back for walking a certain amount of steps.
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1-28-2008 @ 10:14AM
conoutofconsumer said...
It's time for consumers to bring a little sophistication to the table. The purpose of health insurance is NOT primarily to cover the costs of prevention, it's to cover the cost of the risk of illness. Prevention is a goal, but we don't buy health insurance coverage to prevent illness, we buy it in case we are ill. The insurance industry has shifted its goals from medical care to prevention because it's cheaper. We worsen the outlook for those who become ill when insurers are permitted to restrict medical care and treatment coverage and replace it with preventive programs. The insurance industry benefits from reduced risk, therefore it's in their interests to reduce risk of illness. But to replace insurance coverage of illness with insurance coverage for prevention misleads the public about the real agenda, greed. Prevention is a means for insurance, by making it a goal insurers are reducing their liability for paying for the risk that individuals will become ill, maximizing their dollars and leaving us all in danger of bankruptcy in the event we need real medical care. Prevention is not insurance, it's parenting. Parenting is okay, but covering the expense of illness is the only reason we should buy insurance.
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