When Bureaucrats Define Healthcare This Woman is Borderline Obese & Can Be Penalized

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was originally signed into law in August 1996.  It allowed an employer to charge an employee a penalty of up to 20% of insurance premium (more than charged other similarly situated employees) if that employee is not in compliance with a wellness program.  Obamacare increased that penalty up to 30% now with an option to go to 50% in a couple of years.  "Noncompliance" with a wellness plan could be as simple as having a BMI in the overweight or obese category.

• BMI is a height and weight calculation that does not take into account muscle mass.   The BMI of the woman pictured below is 29 which means she is "overweight".  A BMI of 30 is obese.  
• Under Obamacare rules, her employer would be perfectly within its legal rights in setting a target BMI of 26 and requiring her to either walk 150 minutes a week or pay more for her health insurance. 
• For example, if the premium for a single person is $500 on an employer plan and the employer normally pays 90% of the premium asking the employee to pay $50, then an employer can ask this woman to pay an extra 30%.  
• Thus, her penalty could be as high as an additional $150 a month (on top of her original $50 for a total of $200).  And that penalty can be increased to 50% under Obamacare.  

The below is from the Daily Mail (hat tip to Linda Gorman at John Goodman's Health Policy Blog:  

• Anita Albrecht from London told she was obese and to start drastic diet 
• But nurse did not take into account muscle weighs more than fat
• The 39-year-old weighs around 9st 10 when competing
• The personal trainer placed sixth in Miss Galaxy Universe in 2012
• Already follows strict diet and consumes just 1,800 calories 
• Now warning athletes about misleading nature of body mass index

Full story here.

Here was my segment on Armstrong and Getty discussing this and other Obamacare news: