Get Healthy Or Else!

Oh Nanny State, where would we be without you?

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced a “wellness plan” today aimed at keeping city employees healthier by charging them an extra $50 per month for insurance if they don't participate.
  
  Workers and their spouses can participate for free and the only requirements are annual health screenings and follow-up phone calls from medical providers to point them to areas of concern, Emanuel said at a news conference with Chicago Federation of Labor President Jorge Ramirez, whose group represents major unions representing city workers.
  
  
• Workers will not have to meet health benchmarks to stay in the program, but have to listen to recommendations about improving their health. Federation officials estimated up to 30,000 union members and spouses would participate.
  
  “You have to try, is what this wellness plan is about. You have to make the attempt to do it,” Ramirez said. “It doesn't mean you absolutely, positively have to succeed. It means you need to try.”

So you have to sit and listen to Doctor Feelgood, promise to do better, and you're golden? What's the point?

Evidently, the FOP sees problems here, too:

• But Bill Dougherty, first vice president for the Fraternal Order of Police, said the FOP won't participate in the health care agreement because the wellness plan isn't a good deal for union members.
  
  “Employees shouldn't be penalized $50 (per month) for them and $50 for their spouse, just because they don't want to participate in this program,” Dougherty said.

Once you give the City an inch, they'll take a yard, then a mile if they can. Our objection would arise from having to go to city doctors for this stuff. We're already happy with our health care professionals. We don't see the need to expand that circle of people into our personal business. We know we're going to be getting a whole bunch of comments about how cops are all fatasses, SCC is a bunch of overweight do-nothings, and all sorts of other nonsense (save your typing). We don't object to wellness plans and a healthy lifestyle - we object to the city nosing into our personal business and our health care decisions.

As one commentator said earlier:

• Not a bad idea for us public employees. This should also be used for the link card crowd.

Precisely.