Obese state workers in Alabama told to get fit or pay insurance fees

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Obese state workers in Alabama told to get fit or pay insurance fees
By Phillip Rawls ASSOCIATED PRESS
August 22, 2008
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Alabama, pushed to second in national obesity rankings by deep-fried Southern favorites, is cracking down on state workers who are too fat.
The state has given its 37,527 employees a year to start getting fit – or they'll pay $25 a month for insurance that otherwise is free.
Alabama will be the first state to charge overweight state workers who don't work on slimming down. A few states reward employees who adopt healthy behaviors.
Alabama charges workers who smoke – and has seen some success in getting them to quit – but has turned its attention to a problem that plagues many in the Deep South: obesity.
The State Employees' Insurance Board approved a plan this week to charge state workers starting in 2010 if they don't go to free health screenings.
If the screenings turn up serious problems with blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose or obesity, employees will have a year to see a doctor at no cost, enroll in a wellness program, or take steps themselves to improve their health. If they show progress in a follow-up screening, they won't be charged. But if they don't, they must pay, starting in 2011.
“We are trying to get individuals to become more aware of their health,” said state worker Robert Wagstaff, who serves on the insurance board.
Not all state employees see it that way. “It's terrible,” said health department employee Chequla Motley. “Some people come into this world big.”
Computer technician Tim Colley already pays $24 a month for being a smoker and doesn't like the idea of another charge. “It's too Big Brotherish,” he said.
The board will apply the obesity charge to anyone with a body mass index of 35 or higher who isn't making progress. A person 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 220 pounds, for example, would have a BMI of 35.5. A BMI of 30 is considered the threshold for obesity.
The board hasn't determined how much progress a person would have to show and isn't certain how many people might be affected because everyone could avoid the charge by working to lose weight.
But that's unlikely: Government statistics show Alabamians have a big weight problem. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 30.3 percent of them are now obese, ranking the state behind only Mississippi.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080822/news_1n22obesity.html