Wellness care and healthy lifestyle haven't been subjected to close scrutiny to see if they really do bring down health costs for businesses. Yes, it's in every health/business bottom line article you see, but where is the research? "Free" preventive services aren't free and aren't preventive--those costs are built into the insurance. Besides, if something is found during prevention, then it becomes diagnostic and treatment follows, and that isn’t free. Someone has to pay. Health costs keep going up, and I've been hearing this for at least 25 years.
When they got people to stop smoking, the obesity rate went up. Where's the savings? And if enough people live longer because of exercise and normalized weight, they just cost more in their 80s and 90s because they didn't die in their 70s.
Whether or not they reduce costs—which I doubt--these programs are becoming very intrusive and often are not optional. The “choice” to participate now may mean that the employee is charged higher premiums for NOT participating. Some choice, right? And the spouse who doesn’t work at the company has to also submit. I hate tobacco in all forms, but I don’t like it that an employee can’t smoke in his own home because of the company’s “wellness” plan.
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