A state regulation approved in last year’s General Assembly is forcing state employees to take a closer look at their personal health, with the cost of their insurance going up if they do not adopt a heathier lifestyle.

The law includes a section on a comprehensive wellness initiative for members of the state health plan for teachers and state employees. The idea is to get members of the plan to make healthier lifestyle choices and maintain a healthy weight. It also includes a provision to assist members in quitting using tobacco.

The law applies to all active state employees, retirees, COBRA participants and their dependents who are covered under their insurance.

Beginning July 1 of this year, those affected will be enrolled in the 70/30 basic plan, which means the insurance company will pay only 70 percent of covered procedures, unless plan participants complete a form stating no one covered under the plan uses tobacco products, or if they do they are in a qualified tobacco cessation program.

The second part of the law deals with weight management which begins July 1, 2011. In order to qualify for enrollment in 80/20 plan, for which insurance companies cover 80 percent of the cost for covered procedures, participants and their dependents must have a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or less. BMI is a statistical measurement comparing weight and height that is expressed as a number.

For instance, a man 5’10” tall weighing 200 pounds would have body mass index of 28.7, and a man the same height weighing 240 pounds would have a BMI of 34.4. A woman 5’4” weighing 140 pounds would have a body mass index of 24, and a woman that height weighing 160 would have a BMI of 27.5.

“If you show you’re in a weight management program or if you have a medical condition you can qualify for an exemption,” said Linda Crawford, manager of ProHealth, which is offering to develop a program for state employees and their dependents.

Participants and their dependents must submit a form testifying they are complying with this program each year for this program as well. Anyone looking to qualify for an exemption must have a physician certification form including a dated physician, nurse practitioner or physician assistant’s signature and the weight management program’s start date.

According to the state health plan, members who do not submit the completed form within 15 business days of request or fail a random tobacco use or BMI test will be automatically moved to the 70/30 plan for the remainder of the plan year for all participating members. They will also be enrolled in the 70/30 plan for the following plan year.

Furthermore, on July 1, 2010, the required BMI for the 80/20 plan will be reduced to less than 35.

In order to help state employees in the area meet that goal, ProHealth has started a new initiative. Teachers and state employees can sign up for a fitness plan a ProHealth whether or not their BMI exceeds the requirement. Crawford hopes the price for enrolling in the program can be based on the number of participants who sign up meaning the more people who sign up the cheaper the cost of the program. She hopes people will sign up by Feb. 15 so the facility can get a plan together by March 1.

“If your BMI is really high, you need to start now. When you lose weight it directly affects your BMI,” said Crawford. “We have the perfect facility here to work with state employees and teachers. We have a fitness advisor where we can input their data and track their progress, we want to have a nutritionist meet with them every so often. If need be, I can have trainers assigned to groups of people.”

The new initiative is designed to create a healthier population. While a BMI of 40 is on the higher end of the scale, it is still a step in a healthier direction particularly for people who are overweight or obese.

“Many of the medical problems people have today are caused by being overweight such as cancer and heart disease. Losing weight can lessen the chances of those happening,” said Crawford. “The state is going to win and the person is going to win, too. I know we can make a change in those people.”

ProHealth has purchased a machine that measures BMI, the healthy range for which is 19 to 25. Even those in the healthy range for BMI can participate in the plan.

The new law has created the opportunity for Crawford to start a program she has wanted to start for a long time.

“I have wanted to do something like this for several years. We have a perfect facility to help people lose weight and get that target BMI,” she said. “It’s more nutritional education that we’re going to provide. It will get people to think I don’t have a choice but to get down to business. We want to get people on a lifestyle change. This is something they’ll have to do every year.”

In helping people lose weight and hit the target BMI, ProHealth facilitators are setting up an entire program for plan participants. It includes a diet plan, weight lifting plan and a cardio program.

Teachers getting

involved, kicking it up

Because teachers are state employees, they are affected by this new legislation as well.

A few area schools have designed specific programs to help their teachers stay in shape. It is also part of the school system’s goal of having healthy, active students and adults.

At Franklin Elementary School many teachers, known as the Franklin Fit Faculty, are taking part in a nutrition class and a Zumba workout once a week. This is the second week of the program which is a 15-week commitment. Physical Education and health teacher Sherry Smith saw a similar nutrition program at a conference and brought the idea back to the school.

“It’s going well, even for those who are more movement-challenged,” said Principal Terry Marcum. “We knew the state health plan changes were coming to pass and it’s something we all need to do.”

The class, which is called Eat Less, Move More, Weigh Less, is taught by Carmen Long from the NC Cooperative Extension once a week and focuses on creating a healthy lifestyle. Class members have measured BMI, weighed in and checked their blood pressure both before and after working out.

During the second week participants learned about choosing the right types of food and savoring every bite.

Kayla Ellis, art teacher, started attending Zumba classes at Reeves Community Center and enjoyed it so much she decided to get certified as an instructor. Now, she leads the faculty members in a class after the nutrition class.

“The music is a big motivator. It’s lots of Latin music and dance moves,” she said of the class attended by 25 to 30 people. “This is for the teachers to be healthier and to raise their energy level as well.”

Westfield Elementary School has also taken up the call and is providing a line dancing class or an aerobics class for teachers twice each week after school.

Sherry Collins, music teacher, is teaching line dancing every other week on Tuesday and Thursday while Janet Reavis, fourth grade teacher, teaches an aerobics class on Tuesdays and Thursdays of alternate weeks.

“We do have in Surry County a School Health Advisory Council and each school has one as well to promote healthy, active children and adults,” said Principal Tracey Lewis. “A healthy mind leads to a healthy body so we can be here to help the children.”

The classes last around 30 or 40 minutes and started with aerobics around Thanksgiving and with line dancing around Christmas.

“We decided to start it to relieve stress for some of us here,” said Reavis. “In a couple of weeks or so I think people will be a little more apt to do it when they have a little more breathing room. It’s a work out and it relieves stress.”

Collins was doing line dancing before she started teaching the class upon the recommendation of another teacher.

“We’ve been a couple of weeks and it seems to be going pretty well,” she said. “We try to go for 30 minutes twice a week in the gym. You can kind of sell it when others can see you. I think it’s a pretty good workout because if you’ve got your music you can do different speeds.”

Gentry Middle School also has implemented a Fitness Club under the direction of Christie Robertson, sixth grade language arts and social studies teacher.

The group has meetings where Robertson shares nutritional information and she also sends out e-mails with tips and encouragement. Participants are weighing in each week to see who can lose the highest percentage of weight and hitting the school’s weight room. The club will run through the end of the year.

“I have had a lot of folks join our group, and they are becoming more active each week. They are also excited to start eating healthy,” she said.

The initiatives at the school level, in addition to helping teachers stay in shape for the new health plan, are meeting board of education’s goal to place a focus on physical education.

“This year is a study year to try to find every support system to make the school district as healthy as humanly possible,” said Assistant Superintendent Pat Widdowson. “Whenever you begin to talk about any issue, you have to change the paradigm. To change the whole school district it takes a lot of discussion, a lot of awareness and a lot of research.

“The insurance thing is an important part but it’s a broader sweep than that. It’s the right thing to do for our community.”

The Mount Airy City School System plans to continue offering a health screening with the city of Mount Airy and the Surry County Health Department.

Contact Morgan Wall at mwall@mtairynews.com or 719-1929.