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Got a Vice? There Soon Will Be a Hefty Tax on Anything Fun

Announcement:  All things fun and bad for you will soon have a direct and/or indirect consequence.  In anticipation of the employer response to recently passed healthcare reform, I think behooves us all to look forward as to how it will impact the working people of the US.  For those of us fortunate to have great comprehensive (ahem..Cadillac) health plans, there may be significant costs to insurers for offering those plans that will result in increased premiums to employers.  Increased premiums on employers mean increased premiums on employees.  When they say s#@! rolls downhill, it is not an exaggeration.  So what does that mean for employees who have faced premium adjustments of 5-10% each year for the past 10 years?  The bottom line is that we’ll be paying more for healthcare and employers will be looking for creative ways to reward those who take preventative measures to prevent illness and disease.  This includes:

1.  Annual physicals and wellness visits

2.  Weight management

3.  Not smoking

4.  Regular exercise

5.  Reducing alcohol intake (…a little wine is good though!)

While we all scream at the thought that employers are going to delve further into our lives by telling us what to eat, drink, and do, the rules change when our actions outside of work impact the bottom line.  Employers have taken actions from small steps like higher premiums for smokers to drastic measures such as not hiring smokers (which is not legal in my state) at all.  Employer wellness programs have gone from voluntary, to strongly suggested, to required participation if you want to pay a lower premium on your health insurance.  While most employers haven’t gone this way yet, my crystal ball urges the employee to pay attention or pay the premium.  If your employer offers a smoking cessation program, take advantage of it.  Wellness programs? Try them, they might actually be fun.  And don’t forget annual wellness visits to your PCP (and the GYN for the ladies) are also important to heading off serious illnesses and disease.  It’s really up to all of us to work to keep our insurance costs down.  We have to redefine fun.  New definitions of fun include shopping at farmer’s markets for locally produced and/or organic produce, joining a team sport activity, and stopping after one glass of wine.  Gasp!

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Entitlement Society

According to Wikipedia, the “middle class” is the group of people in contemporary society who are between the working class and upper class. This socioeconomic class includes professionals, highly skilled workers, and lower and middle management.  Recently, politicians, labor leaders, and many American citizens have begun to speak out against the shrinking middle class.  But [...]

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