Re: Pay the obese to lose weight- Another view on this topic

[Guest guest]

Yesterday I had, coincidentally, two patients in my office who told me about the

exercise incentive at their work place. one had been participating in this

program for the past 4-5 years and the other, who was obese, came to me to get a

letter stating that he was obese so that he could get into the program.

The company, Aetna Insurance, has a program for their employees (36,000),

whereby the employees recieve bonuses based on the amount of time the

participate in their exercise program and for weight loss.

The way it works is as follows. The employee has to enroll in their program at

the exercise facility which is on the premises. There is a monthly fee for the

facility. Once the employee has logged 3000 minutes at the facility they then

are eligible to apply for the bonus. They get no bonus for the first 3000

minutes. Once in the program they receive a bonus every time they complete

another 1000 minutes, no time limit.

Why are they doing this? They and many employers know that an employee who

exercises is less likely to be absent from work and when working are more

productive.

The employee is evaluated every year with blood work, physical exam, blood

pressure and EKG.

They have nutrition and exercise counseling free of charge.

I guess you might say this is a form of paying the obese, overweight or unfit to

become fit and it seems to be working for Aetna at least.

Ralph Giarnella MD

Southington Ct USA