Alabama has the privilege of being the first state in the country to implement employee paid health insurance, if they are obese. The Alabama State Employees' Insurance Board will charge $25 a month fee to any state worker with a BMI of 35 or above, unless they show weight loss progress.
According to the LA Times, this plan was approved last week. Alabama will give their employees until January 2010 to lose the weight. As it is now, they charge smokers $24 a month for their insurance. If you smoke and are obese, the fee will be $49 a month. An Insurance Board member is quoted as saying, We are trying to get individuals to become more aware of their health."
This proposal seems to make good sense. everyone knows the health risks associated with being overweight. Among many, there is high blood pressure and cholesterol. So what is wrong with penalizing people who are unhealthy?
There seems to be many responses to this answer. Most of the cons come from teh actual obese Alabama residents.
The response to that is that not every overweight person is unhealthy. It has been researched and proven that half of overweight people have normal blood pressure and cholesterol. Out of obese numbers, a third have normal blood pressure and cholesterol levels. An Alabama state worker says, ."[The new plan is] terrible. Some people come into this world big." This will be an ongoing debate.
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