US Rep. Dave Reichert (R-8) has written what will apparently be a four-part (!) series on health-care reform for a group of Eastside papers, including the Auburn Reporter, the Bellevue Reporter, and the Issaquah Reporter. (Reichert was among four Washington State representatives who voted against health-care reform in the House; the others were Reps. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-5), Doc Hastings (R-4), and Brian Baird (D-3).
Part 1, which ran last week, argues essentially that people should be encouraged to adopt healthier lifestyles—along the lines of King County’s employee wellness program, which gives county employees financial incentives (cheaper health care) in exchange for not smoking, eating better, and losing weight.
The county recognized that the lack of physical activity associated with office work increased risk factors for a variety of medical problems, and contracted with private companies, including Weight Watchers, to provide a number of resources including health assessments, counseling, education and fitness classes. Through a unique partnership with Aetna, employees are also educated about and encouraged to be smart health care consumers. According to the county, within the first year of offering access to these tools, 75 percent of people at moderate or high risk for developing a chronic disease eliminated at least one risk factor. Additionally, 12 out of 14 health measures including smoking, nutrition, weight loss and blood pressure among participating employees has shown marked improvement, and employees have lost more than 9,000 pounds.
Of course, that argument doesn’t address people whose illnesses aren’t lifestyle-related (or the fact that body-mass index, the standard measure used to determine whether someone is “overweight,” isn’t a good gauge of overall fitness).
Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, it’s too early to gauge exactly how successful the county’s three-year-old program is, in terms of cost savings and employee health. More than 85 percent of county workers have supposedly reached the highest level of fitness in the program, qualifying them for the lowest health-care premiums.
Call me cynical, but it’s hard to believe that some folks would low ball how much they drink and how often they smoke, and exaggerate how much they work out to save as much as $1,200 a year.
Hopefully, in the 2,400 or so words that are still outstanding, Reichert will shed more light on why (other than the obvious answer, partisanship) he voted against the health-care bill.
