The mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, has just announced details about his new “wellness plan”. City employees who choose not to participate in it will be charged $50.00 more on their health insurance. This could be called an insurance “disincentive”. Some employers are able to offer employer sponsored health insurance to their employees. It has become a fairly common practice to offer the employees certain types of incentives that are designed to reduce the cost the business pays for health insurance, overall. Usually, it works by rewarding employees who lose weight, stop smoking, or who start working out, with a … Continue reading →

What would happen if doctors were able to receive financial incentives for screening for certain types of diseases, or for helping patients to quit smoking? Would this lead to an improvement in health care? Research shows that sometimes it does, and other times it does not. There have been a lot of suggestions about how to make improvements to the current health care system in the United States. Some of these ideas have become laws that directly affect health insurance. Other ideas are more focused on ways to lower the cost of health insurance, and to improve the care that … Continue reading →

A chain of hospitals in Utah that are owned by HCA MountainStar is going to be doing something unique with the employer sponsored health insurance that the group offers to its employees. Starting next year, there will be separate health insurance options available to workers, depending on whether or not they submitted to a health screening. Six hospitals in Utah that are owned by HCA MountainStar are changing their eligibility for some employer sponsored health insurance plans, starting in 2012. Employees will be asked to submit to annual screenings. I’m not sure if this new idea qualifies as a form … Continue reading →

It almost sounds too good to be true, but that is exactly what happened for an employee of Adventist Midwest Health. The company held a “Biggest Loser” type contest, in order to encourage their employees to lose weight and make healthier lifestyle choices. The prize was one year of free health insurance. Companies that offer employer sponsored health insurance to at least some of their employees could be taking a financial risk. If the employees that they cover develop serious health conditions, it will cost a lot of money to cover those medical bills. Since the company is paying for … Continue reading →

Exercise is good for you. It helps you to lose weight, and it keeps you in shape. Exercise can help prevent certain health conditions, and ease the symptoms of others. Considering the benefits of exercise, shouldn’t health insurance companies have to cover its costs? A researcher from Florida thinks so. Dr. Marco Pahor, who is the director of the University of Florida Institute on Aging, has stated his opinion that health insurance should cover the cost of structured exercise classes. He feels that private insurance companies should cover this, and so should federal health insurance programs like Medicare. The main … Continue reading →