Link → How One Company Pushed Workers Into Preventive Care - Mandated Participation In Wellness Programs
Excerpt: Last year, AmeriGas Propane Inc. gave its employees an ultimatum: get their medical checkups, or lose their health insurance.
The nationwide propane distributor took the unusual step after facing years of steep increases in the cost of health coverage for its roughly 6,000 workers. The company’s work force was aging, and many employees had unhealthy habits—the average worker is 46, and around 44% are smokers. And people weren’t getting tests or preventive care that could help them avoid heart attacks, diabetes or cancer.
AmeriGas had tried a number of voluntary wellness programs to encourage healthy habits in its employees. But the company concluded that “optional programs just don’t work,” says Bill Katz, vice president for human resources.
Then, beginning last year, the company mandated that all employees would have to get physical exams, blood-pressure checks and cholesterol and blood-sugar tests. Women also were required to get Pap smears, and mammograms for those 40 and older.
Workers and their covered spouses would have a year to complete the tests, which are covered 100%, or lose their insurance. And they’d need to keep getting the checkups at least every two years in order to retain the health benefits.
