Is this coming to an employer near you?

For employees at Clarian Health, feeling the burn of trying to lose weight will take on new meaning.

In late June, the Indianapolis-based hospital system announced that starting in 2009, it will fine employees $10 per paycheck if their body mass index [BMI, a ratio of height to weight that measures body fat] is over 30. If their cholesterol, blood pressure, and glucose levels are too high, they’ll be charged $5 for each standard they don’t meet. Ditto if they smoke: Starting next year, they’ll be charged another $5 in each check.

Clarian has been making headlines for its aggressive and unusual approach to covering escalating health-care costs. Rather than taking the more common step of giving employees incentives for merely participating in its wellness programs, such as joining a smoking cessation group or using a health coach, Clarian is actually measuring outcomes. And unlike most employers, it is penalizing workers for poor health instead of rewarding them for taking healthy steps.

On one level, this makes sense.  Workers with unhealthy lifestyles tax the resources of their companies, who are paying skyrocketing insurance premiums, drawing from the benefits of more healthy employees.  In addition, it acts as an incentive for employees to actually take care of themselves.

On another level, it’s positively discriminatory.  Body mass, cholesterol, and other health issues are often things that can’t be helped because they are hereditary in nature.  Why should certain employees be financially penalized if they come from, say, a family with blood pressure problems?

One thing is for sure: this needs fixing.