Want insurance? Quit smoking, lose weight
If you want to see some of the future of health insurance in this country, take a look at what’s happening to the state employee health care plan.
Even though the General Assembly dug the plan out of a $250 million hole last spring, the State Health Plan continues to run a deficit. Instead of the small profit that state officials predicted a few months ago, an outside actuary says the plan will lose another $54 million this year.
This is resulting in some belt-tightening that may be prophetic. For one, the plan is likely to be watched far more carefully and outside contractors will be documenting their charges with the sort of detail that may have been missing (like the $36 million surprise that Blue Cross and Blue Shield billed for processing claims).
Even more profound will be changes in what insurers will expect of consumers. The state is considering measures that would add incentives for employees who lose weight or quit smoking – and penalize those who won’t. While that may seem an intrusion into people’s personal lives, it’s not at all unlike other kinds of insurance whose rates are based on experience and the likelihood of claims.
Scarce tax dollars make these changes inevitable. But we won’t be surprised if they spread to the private sector soon.
