Along the lines of last week's article about the Westlake police prohibiting their officers from smoking on or off the job, the Associated Press is reporting about companies which penalize "workers who have high health risks such as obesity and high blood pressure or cholesterol" (source: "Some companies penalize for health risks" AP, Sept. 9, 2007). The AP article states that rising health insurance costs are generally behind this move.
Among the companies mentioned in the article is Scott's Miracle-Gro Company, based in Marysville, Ohio. Scott's evidently charges $40 more per month in health insurance premiums for employees who don't complete annual health risk assessments; if the assessment finds a risk and the worker doesn't try to reduce it, the company charges $65 more. Once the added charge was instituted, participation in the company's annual health risk assessments rose from 70% to 95%. Scott's also earlier "stopped hiring tobacco users in states where that is allowed and reserves the right to fire employees who use tobacco."
The article quoted Scott's spokesman Jim King as saying, "We think that personal accountability is a big part of driving overall wellness, but we also provide our associates with the tools they need. We think our program is a good balance of the carrot and the stick."
Please see the Ohio Health Policy Review's previous article on this subject for an analysis of this trend in regulating employee health.
