Just to clarify...my earlier post was regarding hiring policies not insurance premiums. We do however have a wellness program that can reduce your premium. It has changed a bunch over the last few years. Personally I find it to be almost impossible to NOT qualify for the discounts. Its almost a joke.
With the wellness programs It's not about the exercising and making you healthier, that's why damn near anyone can qualify.. It's about information and data.
Every wellness program I've ever seen requires a wellness screening. Usually height, weight, cholesterol check, blood pressure check as well as a survey about your eating, exercising, sleep, and stress habits. This is called a baseline. Then you go off and do their stupid little tasks to get your discount. Walking so many steps a day, exercising X minutes a week, changing your diet etc whatever their program calls for and they have you keep a log or journal on their system about your activities. Next year. Another wellness screening. Now they know where you started, everything you did, and where you ended up. The data is valuable to accessing your long term health. It's also valuable to accessing their long term risk when insuring your ass. Right now they're in the data collection and interpretation phase. Eventually they're going to start the implementation phase.
"Sir. It looks like you have a history of high blood pressure despite exercising and eating better. This means your blood pressure can't be controlled naturally. As such you're at a higher risk for heart attack. Congratulations your health insurance premium for next year just tripled."
"Sir, it looks like your triglycerides have been borderline high despite eating healthier. We know that a person with your triglycerides has a 60% chance of needing a bypass or heart cath before age 60 and you're now 42. Your health insurance is going to double next year for the next 18 years so we can offset our cost later.
Wellness programs are not about wellness. But about data. Health insurers are going the way of auto insurers where they charge more for a red car than a white one because the data shows they get in more accidents. They're still in the data collection phase and need you to play along while they do it. They give you some BS about how it's because they care, or how it so cool that you get a discount; truth is they just getting prepared to screw people.
more than one way to skin a cat.
