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Whole Foods to reward workers who lose weight
Bloomberg News
Posted: 11/20/2009 05:40:23 PM PST
Updated: 11/21/2009 08:27:45 AM PST
Whole Foods Market, the largest U.S. natural-goods grocer, plans to sweeten store discounts to employees who lose weight and measurably improve their health.
Workers will receive discounts of 20 percent, rising to 30 percent, based on blood pressure, cholesterol levels, body-mass index and whether they smoke or not, CEO John Mackey said in an interview Monday. The program is voluntary and begins in January, he said.
"We're making an investment and we expect a return," Mackey said referring to potential savings in health care costs. Whole Foods spent $150 million on self-insured health coverage last year, he said.
The offer reflects his published opinion that most health problems are "self-inflicted" and can be prevented through proper diet, exercise and similar lifestyle changes. Cost savings are achieved by "less government control and more individual empowerment," he has said.
Mackey angered some Whole Foods customers in August when he wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed column that people "have no intrinsic right to health care." It is a service, just like food, clothing and shelter, "best provided through voluntary and mutually beneficial market exchanges." The resulting outcry included calls for a boycott and his ouster.
Whole Food shares fell 61 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $26.36 Friday. The shares have jumped almost threefold this year.
Mobile laboratories will travel to Whole Foods stores to perform the health
tests, Mackey said. Contests within stores and regions will keep employees motivated, he said.
"We make getting the 20 percent discount easy to encourage participation," he said. "The discounts are on a sliding scale based on results."
For employees considered high-risk because of obesity, type 2 diabetes or other health issues, Whole Foods already offers a retreat-style immersion program. Mackey said the company pays "several thousand dollars" for each individual to work five to 10 days with one of four U.S. doctors. He declined to specify the amount.
More than 100 people have participated. "Several of those employees have told me the program saved their lives," Mackey said.
Whole Foods pays health care premiums for its 40,000 full- time employees, or more than 75 percent of its work force, said Kate Lowery, a spokeswoman. Part-time employees pay their own premiums, she said.
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