Many employers have begun to require employees who smoke to pay more for health insurance, including: PepsiCo, Northwest Airlines and Gannett, as well as some public employers, such as the states of Alabama and Georgia. At Blue Cross/Blue Shield of North Carolina, company employees who are obese automatically are charged higher insurance premiums - as much as $480 a year - unless they agree to take part in wellness programs. An employee fired for smoking was even the plot of a recent episode of Boston Legal. As you can see from the included articles, policies such as these are becoming increasingly common - but will still stir up controversy. This is the only book |