http://www.weightlosssurgerychannel.com/breaking-wls-news/north-carolina-wellness-initiative-will-reward-weight-loss.html/ Just another WordPress weblog Thu, 29 Jul 2010 02:11:43 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://www.weightlosssurgerychannel.com/breaking-wls-news/north-carolina-wellness-initiative-will-reward-weight-loss.html/comment-page-1/#comment-2208 Nicola Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:01:18 +0000 http://www.weightlosssurgerychannel.com/?p=5708#comment-2208 What they don't tell you is that we had good coverage and this is the way they decided to penalize anyone who is overweight or smokes (about 80% of state employees fall into this category). Anyone who has a certain BMI or smokes will be dropped to a lower coverage tier unless you can prove that you are involved in weight loss program or tobacco cessation program. Then you may be subject to random "BMI checks" or urinalysis for tobacco at work. If you fail test you are immediately dropped to lower tier and have NO grievance rights. This occurred during a year where they already discontinued the highest insurance tier and double all of the co-pays, deductibles, and co-insurance on the 2 remaining tiers. Many of my co-workers cannot afford to pay for the insurance for their kids and spouses and are only able to afford the coverage for themselves. What they don’t tell you is that we had good coverage and this is the way they decided to penalize anyone who is overweight or smokes (about 80% of state employees fall into this category). Anyone who has a certain BMI or smokes will be dropped to a lower coverage tier unless you can prove that you are involved in weight loss program or tobacco cessation program. Then you may be subject to random “BMI checks” or urinalysis for tobacco at work. If you fail test you are immediately dropped to lower tier and have NO grievance rights. This occurred during a year where they already discontinued the highest insurance tier and double all of the co-pays, deductibles, and co-insurance on the 2 remaining tiers. Many of my co-workers cannot afford to pay for the insurance for their kids and spouses and are only able to afford the coverage for themselves.

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