Skyrocketing Health Costs Pit Worker Against Worker

Wall Street Journal ^ | June 17, 2003 | TIMOTHY AEPPEL

[SamAdams76]

ROCKFORD, Ill. -- David Jackson points toward a co-worker driving a bright yellow forklift.

"Just look at that guy, his belly's almost touching the steering wheel," says the 58-year-old machine operator. "It's gross."

The forklift driver, Eugene Black, admits he's overweight. "I know my weight will get me in trouble," says Mr. Black, also 58, who is 6 feet tall and weighs about 340 pounds. He already has trouble walking because of pain in his ankles aggravated by his weight. He is a borderline diabetic and takes five prescription drugs, including one to control cholesterol.

[SamAdams76]

Boy, aren't unions and socialized medicine fun.

[Xenalyte]

"My husband didn't have a choice to be a diabetic" or suffer any of his other afflictions, Mrs. Schlaf says, her eyes misting.

If his diabetes was adult-onset, almost totally attributable to (poor) diet and (lack of) exercise, I'd put good money on him indeed having a choice.

[randog]

The company has long had a system that penalizes workers who smoke, are obese or suffer from hypertension. Those workers have to pay $50 a month for health insurance.

How about homosexual men or those that engage in 'extreme' sports? Let's raise the premiums on sun worshipers and motorcycle riders. In fact, lets just build cocoons at workplaces to store the employees when they aren't working.

[lelio]

"We've been paying in for 40 years, while the [younger people] have only been paying five or 10," he says.
Mr Black seems to miss the point: the amount he's paying in is no where near the amount he's taking out, especially with 5 drug prescriptions. That he's paid in for a number of years is besides the point.
Listened to the local public radio call in show this morning and it was the usual liberal bitch fest about evil Pubs taking away Medicare payments when a doctor called in and said that he often gives diabetic / cholestrol / etc drugs to obese patients that don't do a thing about their weight. Wouldn't it be better if they did something pro active?
Amazingly, the libs didn't even comment about the caller. They don't want to hear about personal responsibility.
Perhaps a change in insurance is needed that allows for insurance companies to charge different rates based on your health choices (I know they can for smoking). Obese? Okay, we'll give you some drugs for a year or so, but if you're still a tub of lard in a year you're on your own.

[Billy_bob_bob]

Allright, did anyone read "Atlas Shrugged"? I mean actually read it, not just skim the Cliff notes. Remember the part about the factory where John Galt used to work at, I believe it was the "New Century motor company", where they adopted socialism and not long after that everybody was spying on and sabotaging each other? Did anyone read that part? Anyone?

This story reads like it was lifted directly from the pages of Atlas Shrugged.

[decimon]

Is anyone looking at why medical costs have risen so much?

[prairiebreeze]

Insurance in this country isn't much fun either. As a small business, if we hire an employee and that employee gets sick, for ANY reason, our premiums will go up. Period, end of story.

I thought insurance was to help alleviate some risk. Not so any more....

Prairie

[lelio]

20th Century Motors, and yes its almost as if it came straight out of the book.
I'm just waiting for some massive train wrecks to occur.

[raybbr]

I agree with the premise of this article. Isn't this just good capitalism? Those who use more should pay more, right? It's not socialism to reward those of us who take care of our bodies, it's just good capitalist sense.

[gg188]

Most companies simply solve this problem by getting rid of older (<40) workers and replacing them with young workers. Or, now, when possible, replacing them with H1B or L-1 workers our offshoring the work.

I went through this 20 years ago with one corporation and I am going through it again now.

[SamAdams76]

I'm in management in my company so I see firsthand how drastically the costs have risen for our HMO. Obesity related problems are a big part of it. But I've noticed that employees go to the doctors office for every damn thing. When you have a co-payment of $10, many employees take advantage and see the doctor constantly. I get about five voice mails a day from employees telling me about their next doctor's appointment. It's ridiculous.

And of course, the doctors all feel compelled to issue some sort of prescription so that they can appear to be doing something about the problem. People take more pills these days. I'm 40 years old and I've only had one prescription in my entire life - antibiotics for a sinus infection in 1994. But I know people my age who have been taking pills constantly for years.

[frithguild]

"Perhaps a change in insurance is needed that allows for insurance companies to charge different rates based on your health choices"

Most of these plans are subject to ERISA, while individual states can regulate the "business of insurance" Often states mandate that plans provide certain coverages. Thus, the "subsidy" is at the state level.

The real "subsidy" is at the federal tax level. Employer contributions do not count as income. What would happen if it did? Would you want to join you employer's plan or some privately organized group - say maybe your church?

The "subsidy" gives those who engage in health risks a financial pass. How is it good policy to subsidize health risks?

[niteowl77]

A place where I used to work employed a gal who got breast reduction surgery on the company plan (she looked pretty average sizewise, but maybe she had high levels of lead in her system... or something). Shortly after the operation, she offered to let the (then) CEO "check them out to see what the company got for its money."

I was told that he was at a rare loss for words, but eventually managed to decline the invitation with dignity intact.

His dignity, at any rate.

[gg188]

I think this is more about concepts of insurance, of actuarial tables or of the "odds" involved in balancing the outlays for groups of people versus the $ coming in. Perhaps someone expert in the concepts or theory of insurance could weigh-in.

[Larry Lucido]

It was Twentieth Century Motor, and that was exactly what I thought.

[Billy_bob_bob]

That's right, 20th Century Motors. It's been a while since I read that book.

[randita]

There's a very easy solution to this and would keep employees out of each other's lives and that's to just give each employee a voucher for an equal amount and let the employees go out into the free market and buy their own insurance plans. If all companies did that, people would work a lot harder to keep themselves healthy and everyone's health costs would come down in a hurry.

[Larry Lucido]

I always think of Hitlery when I read about Ivy Starnes.

[FITZ]

If his diabetes was adult-onset, almost totally attributable to (poor) diet and (lack of) exercise, I'd put good money on him indeed having a choice.

The best thing an adult-onset diabetic can do to control their disease is diet and exercise ---many chose not to do that so then the doctors give them pills which aren't nearly as effective and the patient usually ends up needing more expensive medical care ---that is one major disease that involves choice.

[FITZ]

Where I work they offer 3 different plans ---one for high users that has a low deductible but high premiums, a middle plan with about a $500 deductible and lower premiums, and then the high deductible of $1000 that has low premiums. The money you save on premiums can be quickly saved up in an account that you could use if you ever need to pay $1000 in one year ---but you keep it if you never use health care.