CVS demands employees offer health info or pay more for coverage

Chain drugstore CVS is offering employees a choice: Reveal health info, including their weight, or pay as much as $600 more per year for their health insurance.

Los Angeles Times: Report: CVS Caremark Demands Workers Disclose Weight, Health Info
Employees at one of the nation's largest drugstore chains must disclose personal health information -- including their weight -- or pay a $600-a-year fine, according to a published report. CVS Caremark Corp. is requiring workers to reveal the information to their company's insurance carrier or pay an extra $50 a month for health coverage, according to the Boston Herald (Hamilton, 3/20).

Marketplace: CVS Forces Workers To Reveal Weight Or Pay Up
Health care premiums being what they are, companies are trying to bring down costs by encouraging workers to get healthier. Maybe they pick up part of employees' gym membership tab. But the pharmacy chain CVS is planning a wellness program with a twist. CVS will require employees to disclose their weight and other health benchmarks -- or pay $600 more for health insurance. The data-driven program has inflamed privacy advocates. It's also an open question as to whether these programs can achieve their goals of making people healthier and saving money (Garrison, 3/21).

In other news, walk-in clinics continue to pop up around the nation as an alternative to regular doctors --

Reuters: Analysis: Private Equity Funds Rapid Growth Of Walk-In Clinics
Walk-in clinics are popping up in shopping malls and main streets across the United States and private equity is helping fund the expansion. At least a dozen private equity firms have in the last few years plowed millions of dollars into urgent care clinics, which have become popular with people who do not have regular doctors or who like the convenience of their extended hours of operation (Abrahamian, 3/21).