Thursday, September 13, 2007

I Owe My Soul (to the Company Store)

I'm not very worried for the potential of privacy abuse here, (though given the history of company abuse of employee health info I probably should be) but this seems a little creepy to me, for reasons I can't quite identify:

As companies try to rein in rising health care costs, workers in many industries are dealing with on-site health clinics. Large employers including Toyota Motor Co., Pepsi Bottling Group, Credit Suisse and Sprint Nextel have set up or expanded on-site health clinics in recent years.

Workers aren't forced to use these company clinics, but companies provide financial incentives including lower co-pays, deductibles and an ability to see the on-site doctor on company time.


I think the idea of providing an on-site health clinic is actually a good idea, but it would seem less big-brotherly if they were run by independent third parties. Am I being paranoid here, or do you feel like it would be too weird to have your employer potentially have access to your health info?

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