Your Company Wants to Know if You've Lost Weight [View all]

Across the U.S., more employers are handing out activity trackers and rolling out high-tech wellness programs that aim to keep closer tabs on workers’ exercise, sleep and nutrition, and ultimately cut ballooning health-care costs... While many employees are fans of the programs, which often sync with apps that track user data, others are raising questions about who sees such data, where it could end up and whether such programs discriminate against those who don’t participate.

In West Virginia last year, a statewide teacher’s strike was partly spurred by the introduction of Go365, an app used to track steps, sleep and heart rate. Failure to earn a certain number of points through the system would result in a $500 hike in the employee’s annual insurance deductible. “People felt really violated,” said Tega Toney, 34, an 11th-grade social-studies teacher in Oak Hill, W.Va. “It was a Big Brother issue.” The program was later abandoned.

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What should you know about wellness-incentive programs that collect your data? Here are some commonly asked questions:

Why is my employer doing this?

While the evidence is mixed, many companies say encouraging workers to be more proactive on wellness, with incentives from gift cards to discounts on health benefits, reduces health spending. At Cleveland Clinic it took three years after launching a wellness program in 2009 to see a return on investment. But since then, the clinic—which rewards employees for reaching targets for glucose, cholesterol and more—said it’s saved $668 million with no loss in benefits, and also seen a drop in sick leave.

Who can see my information?

It depends. If employers are running incentive programs—for instance, challenging employees to meet certain health targets or step counts—it’s possible a provider would notify the employer about which individuals succeeded.

Should I worry about my privacy?

Many programs employ wearable devices that track step counts, sleep and heart rates. Some privacy experts fear that by opting in, individuals may put their data at risk. Wellness programs that are run as part of group health plans are covered by HIPAA, the nation’s main health-privacy law. However, many others aren’t, leaving protection for employee data more porous

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What if I can’t meet my employers’ health goals?

Under federal law, incentives to meet targets for metrics such as body-mass index are allowed. However, employers also have to offer reasonable alternatives to workers who aren’t able to achieve such standards—for example, allowing them to enroll in disease-management or health-education programs.

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Is there a risk of discrimination?

Research has found workers who don’t participate in programs tend to be poorer and have less-healthy behaviors, suggesting that in some situations, wellness programs could end up making health care more expensive for the disadvantaged.

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https://www.wsj.com/articles/does-your-company-need-to-know-your-body-mass-index-11549902536 (Paid subscription)