http://jezebel.com/5456561/weigh-les...t-based-on-bmi
In a nutshell the company is offering to increase the standard 20% employee discount to up to 30% (there are 4 levels) if you achieve certain indicators of health: non-smoking, low bloodpressure, low cholesterol and BMI. This is supposed to encourage healthy behavior that will lower the company's overall healthcare costs.
Being that this is a Jezebel article the slant is of course how unfair it is to discriminate against high BMI and a standard ramble ensues about the validity of using BMI as a health indicator. I am sure Arnold Schwarzenegger will be listed once again as proof that BMI is radically unsound (why people keep toting a 'roids case as proof.....)
On the one hand I see the "obesity discrimination" argument. On the other hand I wonder why no one is crying "cholesterol discrimination".
With difficulty I can control if I am obese or not. I dont smoke so that is no biggie. But despite me following all the non medication routes for managing cholesterol I am "blessed" with high cholesterol. I exercise more than most and only once in my life did I achieve a normal cholesterol reading and that reading could not be repeated. My HDL is fairly high, although not as high as it used to be, which is why my doctors dont prescribe drugs.
So I control what I can but would pay more for stuff somewhat out of my control? Or I could use the company health plan to buy Lipitor and qualify for the discount. Because I am saving the company money how? And what kind of healthy behavior is this encouraging? Risking side effects for drugs that my doctor currently doesnt think I need so I can save 10% on my groceries? I spend a lot on groceries...that would not be an insignificant amount.
I'm not saying the obesity part is right either. Just that both the program and the knee jerk reaction to it are.