Can Insurance Companies Discriminate against Obese People?

[2Thick]

I don't want to fire him I just want him to lose weight. He is a decent employee.

Money is money.

He is not going to lose weight, so you got to lose im.

if you tell him that his weight is the reason then he will use it against you.

You got to do what you got to do...unless the extra $$ does not botehr you.

 

[velvett]

My health insurance for my company is going up 33%. My agent told me the reaon why(he wasn't suppose to) is because I have an employee overweight.

I think insurance companies can do whatever I want. So I guess my question is can I talk to this employee and tell that he needs to get in shape because he is costing me and every other employee money because he is not fit. Or should I keep mouth shut because I would get sued if I said something like that?

Can they? Not entirely sure but I would think so based on health risks. Since health risks rise for say smokers, would they not rise for severly obese people?

Our old bookkeepers husband was over 350lbs and at the advice of his doctor - lose weight or die - he found that Atkins worked for him and is now a slim 198lbs. Long story short - they moved and were trying to get insurance in the new state - the record of his gross obesity still existed and no one want to give them health insurance.

I'm not sure what came of it but I do remember them having a hard time with it.


I wouldn't say anything but that's just me.


On second thought, how overweight is this person?

 

[MattTheSkywalker]

Depends onyour policy.

Is it "experience rated" or not? (Experience rated = basing premiums on past claims experience)

If not, prices should be based on comparable area statistics - age of your employees etc, whether they have kids etc, NOT THE EMPLOYEES THEMSELVES.

Most small businesses are not experience rated, so you should not be getting charged more for fatter people (though laws of your state may vary).

Usually you can't be experience rated until you have a certain nunmber of employees or years in business.

 

[SV2]

Matt, you know what the employee numbers are? Im having some issues with our insurance provider.. we have 18 employees

 

[MattTheSkywalker]

Matt, you know what the employee numbers are? Im having some issues with our insurance provider.. we have 18 employees

Varies by state, but usually at least 100. Insurance companies want a big data sample.

 

[javaguru]

Based on the bullshit BMI I am considered obese with a body fat of 12%. I also get rated because my total cholesterol is too low even though my hdl/ldl ratio is exceptional. Apparently insurance companies base this risk factor on a poorly designed study from the early 80's that found higher death rates among those with low total cholesterol. The data was collected from hospital patients and many critically ill people, like cancer patients, have low cholesterol because of their disease/treatment.

 

[DBCooper]

The insurance industry is a legal form of the mafia. Along with a few other choice greedy fields.