Costs continue to rise and I know this has to be managed. However, people have ALWAYS gotten sick and have used their insurance, if available, so USING the insurance is not necessarily the issue. It’s the cost of various procedures, some of which weren’t available in the past and which are very expensive. I don’t think the problem is so much the employee as it is the medical field and the insurance industry. I do believe promoting wellness (preventative care) is positive, is less expensive in the long run and for that reason, I applaud wellness efforts that aren’t punitive. Penalizing an employee for needing health care just doesn’t seem like the answer to me. I wish I had a solution…it’s a very complex issue with many sides and variables. I’m certainly not qualified or smart enough to fix the problem. It’s going to take a major overhaul and in the meantime, those of us who have access to this kind of privileged information need to be very careful as to how we use it.

It may not matter to Gaylord to be Gay and Ignorance is Bliss, but as RH says; it may not always be easy to overlook it when making decisions.

If the company wants or has to save money in its health plan, I am confident that it will look at how to cut those costs with those employees. HIPPA’s privacy was suppose to protect employees. Now there is a loophole. That loophole has always been there, and only the truly savy knew about it till now.

So, if the employer can look to your person medical records, they can and will terminate you regardless if you are a good Gay or a bad Gay, a good diabetic or a bad diabetic. It hogwash to think, that there is any caring whether or not you are in a diabetic program. Get real.

Just another way to subject employees to behind the scene harrasment.

You say that the possibility of being “misbranded as gay and having repurcussions as a result.” Where do you live, in a RED State? Where I work, being gay is a GOOD thing.

We’ve got to get over this BACKWARD thinking people!