Returning to a recent theme...

[wshaffer]

I was pretty boggled by this post on Shakesville about a health insurance plan that makes enrollees with BMIs over 30 either accept substandard coverage or enroll in a "weight management plan", which boils down to: go to Weight Watchers or wear a pedometer and take a certain minimum number of steps per 3 month period.

I went and did a search for the health plan site, and, of course, they spin it all as providing incentives for healthy behavior and allowing people to qualify for "enhanced coverage." Which did give me a moment's pause, because, hey, I love the idea of incentives for healthy behaviors.

Except, whoops, a BMI is not a behavior. Why not give everyone rewards for wearing a pedometer or eating their veggies?

Also, while incentives are cool, materially impacting people's ability to afford basic healthcare is not so cool. Even if you smoke and live on Ding Dongs and whiskey, I want you to be able to afford to go to the doctor.

Comments

[retsuko.livejournal.com]

They just want people to do the average? How does that help to lose weight? (I mean, if someone's average had been 3,000 previously, and he/she upped it to 5,000, that would be good, but I suspect that most people are already doing the 5K, unbeknownst to them.) Oh, wait: the nonsense thing. @_@;;

[wshaffer.livejournal.com]

I suspect that the reasoning (if any) is something like, "Well, these people are fat, so clearly they must be doing less than the average amount of physical activity." Demonstrating the flaws in this argument is left as an exercise for the reader.