I feel the same way emotionally about it, honestly I do, but I understand the overall rationale also. For every other type of insurance, higher risk factors make your insurance go up but this has not been true of health insurance. If you have tickets, drive a certain type of car (high theft risk) or drive a lot of miles for your work, live in a certain area.. your auto insurance rates go up. If you live far from a fire hydrant and fire station, in a shady neighborhood, or if you are a smoker, your home owners insurance goes up. If you make frequent claims on either, your rates go up. We are used to that and never complain about it. Should healthcare be different? I was spitting nails when they first announced it, and when they released all the increases in expectations over the next few years too.
I believe this is a trend that you can expect to see grow. Blue Cross in this area started it with their Healthy Blue Living plan. Then our system's HMO picked up on it and implemented it. It started with us getting a bonus if we completed a health risk assessment and did some online educational modules that addressed the areas where we were lacking. The next year, we had to do the risk assessment, complete a module and see our PCP once and do our annual screenings (pap, mammogram.. nothing for men, I might note) to get the bonus. Then they switched it to "You have a $1000 deductible and your co-pays are doubled but you can stay at the same old rates if you do..."
THIS is also the reason I'm against a single payer system. I believe competition among health insurers is important in helping keep costs down and giving consumers a choice. I would like to see this totally removed from the employer though. When you work for an employer that owns a HMO, guess what insurance you get? We have the option of Blue Cross, but it is so incredibly expensive in comparison that nobody can afford it, except maybe the doctors/PhDs. I would like to see employers give health insurance vouchers that are good for the insurance of your choice instead of giving you the options that they choose and that are cheapest for them.
Also new this year is that we can only use system pharmacies to fill our prescriptions or they will not be covered. We used to get significant discounts if we filled a 'script at a system pharmacy but now it's required. There are a couple exceptions, like urgent medications such as antibiotics needed, so you don't have to drive in to work to fill your prescription when you have pnuemonia. We can fill 3 prescriptions over our LIFETIME at another pharmacy. So, if you're on vacation and you run out of meds, you can get it filled elsewhere. But only 3 times.. lifetime.
I understand the idea of supporting the system you work for.. the "I work at Ford, I drive a Ford" mentality and I very well might do that anyway, but I want a choice, especially since 70% of my co-workers have access to my health information.
Also Peppy, African Americans have significantly higher rates of hypertension demographically.
On the flip side, there are several people in my department who have become motivated to lose significant amounts of weight. It may be most effective among that group. I was a little peeved that I lost my 58 pounds right before this went into effect..lol. I gained some when I broke my foot earlier this year. I'm trying to get down now to the weight I was the last time I saw the doc so that I'm breaking even for this year. Interestingly, some co-workers have been overheard talking that they are going for exactly 5% of their body weight each year because they are afraid if they lose too much in one year, they won't be able to qualify the next year. Losing 10 pounds a year sounds reasonable to them. I'm taking the opposite approach, I just want to get to the acceptable range this year so I don't have to worry about it anymore. I wanted to do that anyway
