Friday, January 1, 2010

Should health insurance premiums be discounted for those who prove a healthy BMI

Should health insurance premiums be discounted for those who prove a healthy BMI?
I work for a large health insurance company. Our records show the correlation between higher BMI and higher disease rate. Obesity is the #1 cause of disease.

Should those who can prove a low BMI by a certificate from their doctor be given a discount on their health insurance premium? This would basically mean that overweight persons would be charged more unless they can lose weight, go to an inpatient treatment facility to lose weight, or prove that their obesity is irreversable.
Diet & Fitness - 2 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
There are many lifestyle habits that contribute to poor health which people make on a daily basis. Ironically, a large reason for the unhealthy Amerrican lifestyle IS corporate America's control of public media, public health services, and general lifestyle. So the solution is to give them even more control? Isn't that what started this whole mess? I'm not against 'moral legislation, per se, but is such a thing practical? It seems to me, like the War on Drugs, such things turn into money vacuums and self-corrupt. Eventually we will have fat police. It would be disastrous to have this same monster doling out punishments when it helped to create the problem. I'm not a liberal or republican, but this is what made me have some libertarian leanings; government and it's corporate sponsors are basically a machine: a people eating machine, when legislation puts a band-aid on every problem under the sun instead of clearly defining accountability from the start. This is not made up: many chldren's parents are simply miseducated by these same mega-corporations regarding nutrition. Additionally, most American companies make it very difficult and unaffordable to have a healthy lifestyle in which we get time off ro recuperate, access to affordable produce, and ease in transporation and general support of healthier communities. My opinion is that corporate America should not have been put in charge of our health in the first place. I for example cannot get a regular doctor because I keep changing jobs, and thus insurance. It's a nightmare. It's a nice idea, but some other things need to change with regards to corporate and governmental accountability before such ideas can be considered.
2 :
they do...thats why every health/life insurance application asks your height and weight. personally i think BMI is not reliable. if you were to just go by the numbers then a 5'11" bodybuilder could have a higher BMI than a 4'11" obese person.

Read nore discussions :