Cross-posted at MotherTalkers.com.

Here is yet another anecdote about our broken healthcare system.

My father's company is asking all workers to take a blood test for cholesterol, prostate cancer and other illnesses. If the employees are not healthy, the company plans to force them on a diet or raise their health insurance rates by $1,500.

"Is that even legal?" I asked him.

"That's what people at work asked," he said.

As it turns out, it is illegal to ask a job applicant for medical information prior to making a job offer, according to an article in USA Today. But there was nothing in my quick and dirty google search to suggest that companies cannot test their employees and re-evaluate medical coverage.

Universal healthcare, anyone?