I was amazed when I saw on the front page of the Personal Journal section of today’s Wall Street Journal, “When all else fails: Forcing workers into healthy habits.” This article isolated what many employers are facing today and resonated clearly with the importance we place on preventive health care at LifeHealth. WSJ’s Anna Wilde Mathews reported that nationwide propane distributor AmeriGas Propane Inc. “gave its employees an ultimatum: get their medical checkups or lose their health insurance.” “AmeriGas had tried a number of voluntary wellness programs to encourage healthy habits in its employees. But the company concluded that ‘optional programs just don’t work,’ says Bill Katz, vice president for human resources.”  When faced with a majority of employees over 40 years old and 44 percent are smokers, what decision would you make? When large employers are stepping up in preventive health care and Congress has a keen eye on cases like these as they propose health reform, it makes you realize how impactful this growing trend of mandatory health care could be on the country’s bottom line.

In my position at LifeHealth, I’ve had the opportunity to watch employers struggle with this issue of encouraging employees to take ownership of good health. I’ve also stood in their shoes as an employer in my past life. The first real “oh yes”  of this article was the point that health insurance is a benefit –  yes, a benefit, offered to employees. It may not be a right – yet, as an employer you want to offer this benefit – a perk, a benefit. Then the second “oh yes” of the article: we are all human.  I know for myself if I have been partaking in a few more desserts than I should, I avoid getting on the bathroom scale – denial, I admit. Yet when I finally do, I know where I stand and what needs to be done. This is the same as what I see as a clinician during private counseling sessions with employees. People want to know their numbers – what their cholesterol really is, what their blood pressure really is, and of course their weight – just as I really need to know what my weight is so that it gives me an idea of what I really should do! As I read more of this article, it was emphasized what I hear and see everyday – we all need to be forced onto that scale, listened to by a clinician, and learn how dangerous it is if we keep sitting at our desks and eating way too much.

Remember, health insurance is a benefit, health care is a benefit, and our own personal health is a benefit –  we are all in this together. So, as we step on the scale, we must remember that great health is a luxury, and we cannot abuse it anymore.  Ask your employer to invite a group of clinicians into your worksite –it is a benefit that can easily disappear if we do not take control of and appreciate it.