Play or Pay Workplace Wellness

With the health debate raging on and soaring health care costs a major expense for US companies workplace wellness is fast becoming a focus. With the potential to increase productivity, decrease health care costs, and improve morale companies are becoming very serious about looking for effective workplace wellness solutions.

However the question of who's going to pay comes up quickly. One common method that is popping up is "Play or Pay". What companies do is actually charge employees who DO NOT participate in workplace wellness programs. That's sure to raise some opinions. Certainly this is some potential ground for discrimination?

At first look it seems a little uncertain. However if you look at the big picture maybe not.

Brad Creer Says:

Workplace wellness programs are an effective way to reduce major risk factors for heart disease, such as smoking, obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes, says a new American Heart Association policy statement.

Each year, heart disease costs the United States about $304.6 billion, the association says. Companies spend 25 to 30 percent of their annual medical costs on employees with significant health risks, mainly because of their increased likelihood of experiencing heart disease and stroke, it says.

But the financial burden also falls on workers, it says, in the form of higher premiums, co-pays and deductibles, reduction or elimination of coverage and trade-offs between insurance benefits and wage or salary increases.
http://bradcreerhrcooks.wordpress.com/2009/10/01/wellness-programs-pay-off/

So really the employee who refuses to stay healthy is going to pay anyway. And with far more than their pocket book.