A Grocer's approach to health insurance- Rewarding health with wealth

If you work for Whole Foods or Safeway, staying healthy is more than just good advice, it also means better benefits. As of 2010 John Mackey the CEO of Whole Foods released a letter that proposed an interesting new method to giving employees discounts. As seen below, this letter offers employees a better discount as they perform better on tests of smoking, cholesterol and BMI. John Mackey has the right idea as there may be few other individuals who can better combine a better understanding of health and free market enterprise for the benefit of the general populace and really, if you're thinking about working at Whole Foods you should expect something like this. Along with the discounts, Whole Foods offers a custom insurance plan for its team members as well as a total health immersion for members that are especially sick or struggling with weight. While for most team members the discount they can receive may not have much impact on them financially its is a small start and may be just enough incentive to nudge them in the right direction.

http://lol-rofl.com/treadmill-cartoon/

This attitude that Whole Foods is presenting seems not to be that far ahead of  other organizations to encouraging workers and citizens to take their health and finances into their own hands.  The former CEO of Safeway Steve Burd, was an early adopter of financial incentives to help employees cut tobacco use and reduce blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Burd has said that obesity and smoking rates among employees in the voluntary program are roughly 70 percent of the national average. Like their employees' bellies, Burd testified before congress that his company’s health care costs have been flat “while most American companies’ costs have increased 38 percent over the same four years.” This topic of how much employers can encourage their workers to stay healthy is one that has been debated and addressed initially by the US government under HIPAA and then expanded through Obamacare.

Currently companies like Scott's Miracle Grow, IBM and even the state of Alabama are thinking along the same lines and have already applied policies that will reward healthy living. Along with state and businesses adoption of health promoting incentives, health insurance companies and hospital groups are beginning to adopt programs with similar incentives. So these wellness programs designed to motivate workers to adopt healthy lifestyles aren't going away, and if anything are part of a trend that will likely continue to grow.

The bulk of the US's health care costs come from preventable diseases. Obviously these incentives wont completely change attitudes or the world, but could be enough to give an extra push to people that just need an excuse to eat right or do things better. Of course there are a lot of genetic and otherwise currently un-treatable diseases, but the since its the preventable ones that are hurting us the most they are a good place to start. One objection against this incentive based approach brought up by AARP is that if you give one person a reward that someone else will end up having to pay for it. This shortsighted thinking fails to see that any immediate cost difference will soon be outweighed by the benefits as long term costs are severely reduced because the program is based on preventative steps shown conclusively to prevent disease. Giving people incentives to stay healthy is an obvious application of an ounce of prevention to avoid having to pay for a pound of expensive cure.

http://www.brit.co/stars-stripes-in-fruit-form/

In reality one of the greatest downsides to this approach may to those who are not working and continually punished by a system that only rewards people that only share its attitude. This could cause people who are already struggling in other areas of their life along with their health not be able to find employment. So then, the challenge is to keep it a positive non-exclusive incentive. Rather than punishing or excluding people through hiring, companies would need to design incentives that will take current workers and subtly encourage any step they take to pursue better health as Whole Foods does. Another potential downside I see is where government or companies use this as an excuse to intrude on people's personal lives. Tests about depression and other more personal matters may not be desired, but I think as long the the checks are moderate and left to the private sector this could be a very helpful tool to urge the working American public in the right direction. It will work best for those who just need a small excuse to change things. As people actually change their habits they create less costs because in theory, the illness will be prevented. As long based on clearly demonstrated data everyone can potentially benefit from incentives that motivate people to take better care of their health.

http://jezebel.com/5456561/weigh-less-pay-less-whole-foods-offers-discount-based-on-bmi

Americans Support Health Insurance Discounts for Healthy Lifestyles
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/lifestyle/general_lifestyle/may_2012/americans_support_health_insurance_discounts_for_healthy_lifestyles

http://newsroom.intel.com/community/news/blog/2012/5/16
Future Food Service-John Dickman