Affordable Health Care Law

[mrs.b]

HR says it has nothing to do with ACA.

It doesn't. Mandatory health screenings are fairly standard practice to ensure employees know their health risks so they can seek preventative care, rather than wait for a catastrophic illness to rear its ugly head in the form of costly hospital stays, surgeries, or worse. To talk just money, it is much less expensive to pay those annual doctor visits and labs, and potential maintenance drug scripts for things like blood pressure or cholesterol medicine, or insulin, than to wait for heart disease or diabetes to get bad enough that they make themselves known in more symptomatic ways. It makes financial sense, and savings are seen in reduced premiums which good companies then pass on to their employees. Then there's the cost involved in an employee being out for an extended period of time on health leave, when coworkers need to carry the burden of a work load, or temporary help has to be brought in to fill the gap and trained. That's just the benefits to the employer; employees hopefully value their lives enough to see that an annual visit to the doc - even if the hand is forced by an insurance requirement - serves them in hopefully preventing the discomfort, stress, and potential life-threatening illnesses associated with the severe medical conditions those screenings are designed to identify. My employer required mandatory health screenings before ACA was a major talking point. I'm waiting for them to hike premiums through the roof for smokers.