The Senate healthcare committee introduced new bipartisan healthcare legislation on Tuesday in the Senate healthcare overhaul bill. The legislation is mean to rework healthcare in the United States. One of the measures in the bill calls for an increase of employer-offered insurance discounts to workers who take steps to lose weight and make their lifestyle healthier. While this provision in the bill has not attracted much notice, it could represent a breakthrough into preventative healthcare that has been largely absent from federal healthcare policy.
Under the existing law, companies offering group health insurance can offer a maximum 20% insurance discount to employees who have taken steps to change their lifestyle. This measure would raise that number to 30%, with a statute to enable the Obama administration to raise it to %50.
The insurance discounts would provide a strong financial incentive for exercising, eating well, taking a smoking cessation class, and creating a healthier lifestyle in general. This measure would help to reduce the financial burden of behavior-related illnesses on the health care budget. The discounts included in this bill bear comparison to the program that Safeway already offers, which has been praised by President Obama for keeping costs low. Safeway offers discounts to employees that can prove that they have taken measures to improve their lifestyle and become most healthy. 74% of eligible employees participate in Safeway’s program.
The discount measure in the Senate healthcare overhaul bill will give companies the opportunity to more easily provide their employees with insurance discounts. On its own, the insurance discount measure in the Senate healthcare overhaul bill would help to prevent behavior-based diseases and make Americans healthier, while successfully and effectively cutting costs.
To read more, visit:
http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2009/07/15/healthcare_bill_offers_workers_incentive_for_healthy_lifestyle/
