My Employer is giving incentives for "Biometric Screening" for lower healthcare premiums

[CaptainAmerica]

My Employer is giving incentives for "Biometric Screening" for lower healthcare premiums

the world of 1984 is becoming reality.

 

[deadfish]

My employer started this a couple years ago. Not too worked up about it... just another cost-cutting measure. They wouldn't do it if it didn't reduce employer-side health insurance costs.

 

[JebSanderson]

Oh no! Cholesterol and blood pressure screening to lower your insurance costs!

What a tyrannical dystopia...

 

[SisCyn]

the world of 1984 is becoming reality.

The electronic medical record mandate which is part of Obamacare is tracking race, language preference, and religion in addition to the old standby questions of date of birth and sex. In addition, nearly every other insurance company has moved away from using your social security number as a policy number, EXCEPT for Medicare, which still ties all patient demographics to the social security number.

 

[oyarde]

My blood pressure and cholesteral are fine , so , I would probably do it for the savings , but , I just opted out of my employer heath plan April 30 this year , bought a plan through Humana.

 

[oyarde]

The electronic medical record mandate which is part of Obamacare is tracking race, language preference, and religion in addition to the old standby questions of date of birth and sex. In addition, nearly every other insurance company has moved away from using your social security number as a policy number, EXCEPT for Medicare, which still ties all patient demographics to the social security number.

LOL , I cannot help picturing some dipshit studying religion percentages .

 

[Austrian Econ Disciple]

There should be more of this to be honest. Insurance is about identifying risk and pricing it. I certainly do not want to be pooled with high-risk individuals. Not keen on insurance through employers which should be reduced as much as possible (thanks WWII...), but there should absolutely be higher premiums for individuals who have greater risk. I shouldn't have to subsidize the poor lifestyles of other individuals.

 

[jkr]

some short sighted people round here...

 

[Zippyjuan]

These screenings can try to identify potential future medical problems at a time they can be more easily dealt with (and at lower cost) than waiting for problems to become more serious when it costs everybody more money. It is good that they are trying to control the costs of medical care in my opinion. Otherwise those who take care of their health are subsidising more care for those who don't.

 

[water22]

These screenings can try to identify potential future medical problems at a time they can be more easily dealt with (and at lower cost) than waiting for problems to become more serious when it costs everybody more money. It is good that they are trying to control the costs of medical care in my opinion. Otherwise those who take care of their health are subsidising more care for those who don't.

I think it's a secret plot to put us in FEMA camps.

 

[ZenBowman]

the world of 1984 is becoming reality.

Huh?

No, employers are free to require or encourage certain behaviors if they so choose. If you don't like them, find another employer.

With government you do not have that choice.

 

[LibertyRevolution]

My main problem with this is that if you opt out you must pay $10 a week extra forever...
My other problem with this is, if your overweight and your doctor tells you to lose weight and you don't, they can cancel your insurance.

 

[GuerrillaXXI]

the world of 1984 is becoming reality.

The "biometrics" mentioned in the OP aren't the sort of biometrics that are used for surveillance; "biometrics" is really the wrong word here. Blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels, weight, and waist circumference can easily change with time, and they cannot be used to identify a specific person.

If an employer wants your fingerprints, iris scans, or especially your DNA, that's a problem.

Don't get me wrong -- there is indeed a lot of surveillance out there that we have great reason to be concerned about. But health testing by employers isn't really part of it.

 

[DamianTV]

the world of 1984 is becoming reality.

1984 was a Warning, not a Blueprint.

 

[Acala]

Put aside for the moment the fact that government has turned the entire healthcare industry on its head and it is far from being a free market.

Real insurance is NOT an entitlement or a social service program. It is a market creation called a risk pool. People get together and pay into a pool to cover the random occurrence of specific, known risks among them. For example, out of ten thousand people, only one will have a house fire in a given year. Therefore, it makes economic sense for them to all get together and pay a little bit into a pool that pays the cost for the one UNKNOWN person among them who will have a house fire.

It only makes sense for known risks, not certainties. You would not knowingly allow someone in the risk pool that you KNOW is going to have a fire. If you did, their premium would need to be the total cost of their house fire so it wouldn't make sense. Similarly, with health insurance, you would not allow someone in the risk pool who you KNOW is going to have an expensive medical problem. Or you would charge them accordingly.

And the more accurately you can predict risk, the more accurately you can price the insurance. If a certain kind of house is more prone to burning down, they need to pay a higher premium to be in the risk pool. Otherwise you are asking the low risk members of the pool to subsidize the risk of the high risk members. That isn't fair and would not exist in a free market.

So, getting a tighter bead on individual health risks and charging different premiums accordingly is actually exactly what would likely happen in a free market. And I would seek out the best risk pool given my situation. My situation would include things over which I have control - smoking, obesity, stress management, etc. - and factors over which I have no control - age, gender, genetic disposition etc. If I end up having to pay a higher premium than others, too bad for me. Life isn't fair. And free health care isn't a right.