by Kelly Field, Public Relations

Imagine actually getting paid to lose weight.

For some, it would seem the impossible dream. But for MUSC employees, it may soon become reality.

As of Jan. 1, MUSC employees enrolled in MUSC Options are eligible for a new insurance policy which partially reimburses its carriers for completion of either First Step or Health Fast, the two group programs offered through the Weight Management Center (WMC). Participants who stay within five pounds of their finishing weight for a year are compensated one-half the cost of the program.

The policy was proposed by Marion Woodbury, CEO of University Medical Associates, in an effort to cut burgeoning obesity care costs. It has been approved by the Office of Insurance Services at the South Carolina Budget and Control Board and is backed by the WMC. The WMC, under policy co-sponsors Rebecca Rogers, Ph.D., and Patrick O’Neil, Ph.D., offers a $75, 10-lesson recovery plan to anyone who strays from their target weight during the one-year period.

To learn more about this new maintenance incentive, Call 792-1414. Descriptions of the participating programs follow. You must meet weight requirements to qualify. The policy is available to all MUSC employees enrolled in the MUSC options insurance plan.

Two group programs offered through WMC

First Step-a 20-week program that offers weight loss assistance through weekly hour-long meetings in small groups. The program helps you make changes in activity level, eating practices and behaviors related to weight control. Individual meal plans and exercise plans are included at the outset. Participants usually lose one to two pounds a week.

Health Fast-this 30-week program, designed for people who need to lose more than 50 pounds, combines medically supervised, supplemented fasting with counseling to help you make the lifestyle changes needed to maintain the loss. The program has three phases: fasting, reintroduction to food and stabilization. During the initial stages of the program, participants drink a beverage five times a day as the sole source of nutrition, totaling 800 calories a day. Food bars are also available. Participants usually lose an average of two to six pounds each week during the beverage phase of the program, and can continue to lose a reasonable amount thereafter.