Insurer Looks to Reward Healthy Employees
UnitedHealthcare, the nation’s largest insurer, has begun to offer new policies to midsize employers that reward individuals for health results. These new policies are currently available to employers in Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Colorado, and the company may launch them nationwide in 2008.
"We're going to reward individuals for health results, not just actions," says Tom Beauregard, a senior vice president at UnitedHealthcare.
The policies are seen as the latest move in a growing effort by employers to have workers pay more toward health care costs and take more responsibility for their own health.
However, because the United program rewards actual results, rather than just efforts to be healthier, the policies are raising concern among some advocates. Up to now, many employers have programs that reward workers with cash or lower health care costs simply for joining wellness programs or starting treatment, yet the new policies from UnitedHealthcare go a step further.
"This is turning health care into a police state," says Jamie Court of the Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights, an advocacy group in Los Angeles. "If you want people to live healthier lives, you need to educate them and make it safe for them to seek medical treatment, without fear of financial penalties."
The program works as follows: Employers offer a high-deductible insurance plan through UnitedHealth, such as a policy that requires single workers to pay their first $2,500 in annual health costs before insurance kicks in; families, $5,000.
Employees who want to reduce their annual deductible can volunteer for annual blood tests and other evaluations to see if they smoke and if they meet target goals for blood pressure, cholestero,l and height/weight ratio. For each of the four goals they meet, workers would qualify for a $500 credit as individuals or $1,000 as families toward the deductible. If they qualify for all four, their annual deductible would decrease to $500 for individuals or $1,000 for families.
Peter Lee of the Pacific Business Group on Health says employers may respond positively to the United offering but will need to ensure that workers are given opportunities to participate in programs enabling them to avoid the high deductible.
Published on July 11, 2007
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