Currently in the news there are many concerns and employers are wary of health plan incentives.
The health law allows job-based health plans to boost the rewards for workers who adopt healthier habits.
Below is a summary from both the Boston Globe and Fox News which expresses the sentiment of workers and employers and is circulating throughout the news.
The Boston Globe: Despite Push, US Employers Wary Of Health Incentives
Would $1,700 a year motivate you to drop a few pounds? How about $3,000 to quit smoking?
That is how much, on average, the government is allowing employers to reward their workers beginning in January 2014 for doing things like losing weight, lowering their cholesterol, and keeping their blood pressure in check.
A new, little-known provision of the Affordable Care Act boosts the maximum incentives for workplace programs that encourage employees to get healthier in hopes of lowering insurance costs (Jan, 12/18).
Fox News: : Union Official: Smoking, Obesity, Other Health Issues Could Mean Paying More Under ObamaCare.
Under ObamaCare, smoking, obesity and other health conditions sometimes penalized by wellness programs can force even those with employer-provided insurance to pay more, an officer of the National Union of Healthcare Workers said Tuesday. “I run five miles a day, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke. And by the Kaiser wellness program that a number of employees we represent are covered by, I’m two pounds from being overweight,” said John Borsos.
Kaiser said in a statement late Tuesday that its program is voluntary and does not penalize those who don’t meet the program’s goals, although that is not true for other programs (Angle, 12/18).
There are some employers who are very wary of being penalized and having to pay even more.