Healthy lifestyle choices could cut health-insurance premiums in half for some people under a provision of a health-reform bill working its way through the Senate, the Boston Globe reports. The detail hasn’t drawn much notice, despite the fact that such carrot-and-stick measures are usually controversial. The bipartisan agreement by the Senate health committee, which came Monday night, says that employees who improve their health habits by eating well, losing weight and quitting smoking can receive a discount of up to 30% from companies offering group health insurance, should the bill become law. That discount could be boosted to much as 50% by the Obama administration. Currently, the law limits the maximum discount to 20%. These types of initiatives are often hotly debated. Some critics say that

government shouldn’t be involved in individuals’ personal lives — including health habits — and that such incentives might discriminate against people with certain medical conditions. The grocery store chain Safeway gives discounts to nonunion employees who show they meet certain health criteria or have make efforts to get healthier, notes the Globe. Nearly three quarters of eligible workers participate and the savings for a family can be as much as $1,560 per year. That discount could increase to $3,000 per family if the discounts were raised to 50%.” “Money talks,’” Sen. Judd Gregg who helped work out the agreement, told the Globe. “People react to incentives that involve cash.’”

View original post here:
Healthy Behaviors Could Cut Insurance Premiums in Senate Bill