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Are you a man with a waist measuring 40 inches or more? If you want to work at Michelin North America Inc., that spare tire could cost you.
你的腰圍達到或者超過40英寸了嗎？如果你想在米其林北美公司(Michelin North America Inc.)工作，腰部的這些贅肉可能會讓你付出代價。
Employees at the tire maker who have high blood pressure or certain size waistlines may have to pay as much as $1, 000 more for health-care coverage starting next year.
從明年開始，這家輪胎制造企業里患有高血壓或腰圍達到一定尺寸的員工也許不得不額外支付多達1,000美元的醫療保險費用。
As they fight rising health-care costs and poor results from voluntary wellness programs, companies across America are penalizing workers for a range of conditions, including high blood pressure and thick waistlines. They are also demanding that employees share personal-health information, such as body-mass index, weight and blood-sugar level, or face higher premiums or deductibles.
就在應對醫保費用不斷上升、自愿健康計劃收效甚微的局面的同時，全美各地的企業開始對具有某些身體狀況的員工實施懲戒措施，其中包括高血壓和粗腰圍。他們還要求員工提供體質指數、體重和血糖濃度等個人健康信息，否則員工會面臨更高的保費或自費額度。
Corporate leaders say they can't lower health-care costs without changing workers' habits, and they cite the findings of behavioral economists showing that people respond more effectively to potential losses, such as penalties, than expected gains, such as rewards. With corporate spending on health care expected to reach an average of $12, 136 per employee this year, according to a study by the consulting firm Towers Watson, penalties may soon be the new norm.
公司領導說如果不改變員工的習慣，他們無法降低醫保費用。他們援引了行為經濟學家的研究成果，認為相比獎勵這樣的預期收益，人們對罰金這樣的潛在損失會做出更有效的反應。根據韜睿惠悅咨詢公司(Towers Watson)的一項研究，由于美國各公司今年在員工醫療保健方面的花費預計會達到人均12,136美元，處以罰金也許很快會成為大勢所趨。
Employers may argue that tough-love measures, such as punishing workers who evade health screenings, benefit their staff and lower health-care costs. But such steps also portend a murky future in which a chronic condition, such as hypertension, could cost workers jobs or promotions─or prevent them from being hired in the first place.
老板們也許會說，諸如處罰逃避體檢的職員這種嚴愛式的措施可以使員工受益，并降低醫療保健費用。不過這些措施對員工而言也預示著一個暗淡的前景，像高血壓這樣的慢性病可能會讓員工失去工作或晉升機會──或者一開始就成為了妨礙他們被錄用的障礙。
Until recently, Michelin awarded workers automatic $600 credits toward deductibles, along with extra money for completing health-assessment surveys or participating in a nonbinding 'action plan' for wellness. It adopted its stricter policy after its health costs spiked in 2012.
就在不久前，米其林還一直針對自付費用部分向員工提供600美元的自動獎勵金，以及用于健康評估調查或參加非約束性健康“行動計劃”的額外資金。2012年公司的醫療保健開支大幅上升之后米其林才采取了更為嚴格的政策。
