Can a Health Screening Affect My Insurance Premium?
I have a question about insurance discrimination. The company I work for has well over 500 employees and is a union company.
According to our contract, which we signed early in 2014 and I wasn’t aware of until recently, it states that: before our open enrollment period in October 2015 for the year 2016, we must have a healthcare screening for the employee and spouse, along with a history questionnaire form submitted.
If we do this, we will receive a $400 discount per year on our health insurance.
What if I refuse to do this and they charge me $400 more a year for my insurance?
Doesn’t this qualify as discrimination based on health and medical history? Most of the older employees, that I know, have some sort of pre-existing condition, injuries sustained from the job and other genetic diseases in their background.
I really don’t want to do this because it could base our premiums, in the next contract, on the combined health of the employees.
Answer
Your insurance premium can't be affected by health status under ObamaCare. You should get the health screening and take advantage of any wellness programs that can lower what you pay. Learn what can and can't be factored into your insurance premiums.
That being said, unions have some weird loopholes and it's hard to say for sure what costs an employer will pass along to employees. Most likely they are trying to figure out what health plan will provide the best value given the needs of their employees and trying to figure out how to structure wellness programs.