Question
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Arizona
our company held enrollment for new insurance plan in november 2005 ... with our january 4th paychecks, all members of the company at our location received a memo (not signed) from corporate headquarters ... this memo stated that a wellness program will be part of new insurance program to encourage individuals to quit smoking .... HOWEVER, the memo also said that employees will be asked to sign a statement that they smoke & if they smoke, $30 will be taken from their paycheck per month ... in addition to any insurance premium already established ...
this information was not disclosed at time of insurance enrollment ... is that even legal ??
(smokers or non-smokers) is this not clearly an example of isolating a behavior ... deciding it is not acceptable ... punishing that behavior ...
furthermore ... no information was provided until after enrollment ...
california & new york ... no way !!!
when i, an employee, asked for the memo to be emailed to me (since i do not have a scanner) ... human resources freaked out ... told me that corporate said i am not allowed to have the memo on my hard drive ...
employees are extremely concerned ... and angry ... the department of insurance in state of arizona has been contacted; forms printed ... and individuals are submitting complaints ...
yikes ... this is scareeeeeeee ! next year it could be you ... let's see, overweight folks ... folks who eat fast food ... folks who take a certain prescription ... hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
please advise !
Answer
The practice is legal unless prohibited by law. Several states have allowed the practice of surcharging covered participants in a group plan for tobacco use.
For what it's worth, tobacco users are very costly to employers. They have higher absenteeism, more frequent medical claims and higher medical claims. The surcharge is just a way of recouping a small portion of those costs. The buck a day surcharge is minor in relation to the cost of tobacco to the user and the costs associated with an unhealthy lifestyle.