New HealthPact plans were revealed yesterday at an information session in the Providence Mariott organized by the Cornerstone Group. The plans both reduce the cost of employer-sponsored plans and require consumers to practice health-conscious behaviors. Typical plans cost nearly $500/month for an individual; Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island and UnitedHealthcare of New England will offer $310/month and $321/month respectively, starting Oct. 1.

At least initially, the plans will focus on two areas: tobacco use and obesity. Someone who does not smoke and has a body-mass index within the range considered healthy will sign a pledge to maintain a healthy weight. Smokers will be asked to quit or at least participate in a smoking-cessation program. People whose primary-care doctors designate their body-mass index as unhealthy will be asked to participate in a “weight-management program.”

Subscribers who do not comply with these requirements will be bumped from the “advantage” plan into what the insurers are calling the “basic” plan. The premiums will stay the same — so employers will not have to pay more based on employees’ failure to comply — but subscribers will see higher deductibles, copays and out-of-pocket expenses.

Representatives for the insurers noted yesterday that if one family member does not comply with the plan rules, the entire family will be shifted from “advantage” to “basic.” If that shift occurs, the subscriber will not have a chance to get back into the “advantage” plan until the employer’s annual renewal date.

Remaining to be seen is how hard a line the insurers will taken on shifting people out of the more favorable plan.