Chicago's City Workers to be told: Work on health or pay higher insurance premiums

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

City employees would see their monthly health insurance premiums rise by $50 unless they participate in a “wellness program” to manage chronic health problems such as obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure, under a private sector-style plan to be unveiled Friday.

After a standoff on work-rule changes, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has forged an agreement with city unions on a plan to use what he has called the “carrot-and-stick approach” to drive down the city’s $500 million-a-year health care costs by as much as $240 million over four years.