American Cast Iron Pipe After Receiving Praise for Worker Health Benefits Decides To Close On-Site Clinic, Start Charging Premiums

The American Cast Iron Pipe Co., an Alabama company that has "won accolades" for its employee medical and wellness programs, on Thursday told workers and retirees that in 2006 it would start charging them for health insurance for the first time, USA Today reports. In addition, the company will close its on-site medical clinic on Jan. 31, 2006. ACIPCO cited rising medical costs and a desire to give employees more choice in the company's decision to ask them to pay premiums. Since 1998, the company has been named one of Fortune's "100 Best Places To Work," in large part because of its medical benefits and wellness programs. USA Today profiled ACIPCO in August as an example of a company integrating wellness programs into its employee health care plans. ACIPCO will continue to provide its workers with an on-site gym and offer employees cash incentives for maintaining or improving their health. Beginning in 2006, ACIPCO workers will pay premiums ranging from $35 to $150 a month, depending on the number of dependents covered, and retirees who left the company after 1991 will pay a monthly fee for benefits. ACIPCO President and CEO Van Richey said, "We have chosen to provide a health care plan that offers more options to our employees," adding, "At the same time, it will allow our company to remain focused on our core business." The move by ACIPCO comes as part of a national trend of employers reducing benefits and asking workers to pay more for their health coverage, according to USA Today (Appleby, USA Today, 11/9).