Employer charging smokers.. Thoughts?

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lbetancourt
lbetancourt Posts: 522 Member
in Chit-Chat
so, starting in 2013 my employer will charge employees that smoke. i smoke on occassion. i don't know all the details as of yet but what I do know is that all employees will have to sign a waiver upon enrollment for insurance. basically i must certify that I had been a non-tobacco user for the 12 months immediately prior to completing my enrollment. since i can't certify this, i am subject to a $40 monthly premium deducted from my pay. i understand that smoking can lead to lifelong medical expenses. in my city, the largest medical claims are high blood pressure/ hypertension back & join pain. every year i get a medical exam & i get consistently get a clean bill of health. i excercise and watch what i eat. as i understand, one cause of high blood pressure is smoking, but it's also caused by being overweight or obese, lack of physical activity, poor diet etc. so, why target smokers only??

just wondering thoughts on this? and, yes, i know smoking is bad for me. wah wah.
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Replies

  • Dub_D
    Dub_D Posts: 1,760 Member
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    Sounds like its the insurance company charging it, not your employer. Most insurance companies do.
  • TylerJ76
    TylerJ76 Posts: 4,375 Member
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    Good for them.
  • taylor5877
    taylor5877 Posts: 1,792 Member
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    Some employers have incintives and punishments for other health markers as well.

    I see both sides of this. Smoking employees leads to all kinds of hassles for businesses.

    And if I understand correct, the increase in deduction is not your employers fault directly, but added by your health insurance, correct?
  • coliema
    coliema Posts: 7,646 Member
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    I think it's a good idea.

    Where I live, if you smoke, you get a smoke break. If you don't smoke, too bad for you!
  • taylor5877
    taylor5877 Posts: 1,792 Member
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    I think it's a good idea.

    Where I live, if you smoke, you get a smoke break. If you don't smoke, too bad for you!

    the main reason my wife smoked in HS...as a waitress it's the only way she got a break "like everyone else".
  • lbetancourt
    lbetancourt Posts: 522 Member
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    i only smoke when i drink... so, i dont take breaks to smoke at work. and, i dont know where this money goes, i will learn more later. in my head, why not charge folks that are obese with awful eating habits & that are sedentary.
  • joe7880
    joe7880 Posts: 92 Member
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    My opinion is it makes sense b/c smokers cost a company more in medical bills. I'm no doctor but I read that smokers will get sick easier than non-smokers, have a higher risk of developing cancers, heart disease (even if blood pressure is not high), and other diease that simply makes a smoker more expensive than an identical person who did not smoke.
  • primalchaos
    primalchaos Posts: 135 Member
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    so, starting in 2013 my employer will charge employees that smoke. i smoke on occassion. i don't know all the details as of yet but what I do know is that all employees will have to sign a waiver upon enrollment for insurance. basically i must certify that I had been a non-tobacco user for the 12 months immediately prior to completing my enrollment. since i can't certify this, i am subject to a $40 monthly premium deducted from my pay. i understand that smoking can lead to lifelong medical expenses. in my city, the largest medical claims are high blood pressure/ hypertension back & join pain. every year i get a medical exam & i get consistently get a clean bill of health. i excercise and watch what i eat. as i understand, one cause of high blood pressure is smoking, but it's also caused by being overweight or obese, lack of physical activity, poor diet etc. so, why target smokers only??

    just wondering thoughts on this? and, yes, i know smoking is bad for me. wah wah.

    As an ex-smoker, why flirt with these issues? I'm not a rabid anti-smoker, but I can't help but asking why you smoke when you drink?
  • Angie_1991
    Angie_1991 Posts: 447 Member
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    Good, nasty habit....but job security for my mother.....
  • Sh1tsRainbows
    Sh1tsRainbows Posts: 1,227 Member
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    i only smoke when i drink... so, i dont take breaks to smoke at work. and, i dont know where this money goes, i will learn more later. in my head, why not charge folks that are obese with awful eating habits & that are sedentary.

    I agree
  • MissFit0101
    MissFit0101 Posts: 2,382
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    Sounds like its the insurance company charging it, not your employer. Most insurance companies do.

    This.
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
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    Sounds like its the insurance company charging it, not your employer. Most insurance companies do.

    This would be my guess too, and the employers are just passing along the charge to the employees instead of paying it themselves. It does kind of stink that smokers are being targeted when there are SO many other bad habits that people have that may cause them to utilize their health insurance more often than others. For example, people who don't wash their hands after going to the bathroom. Shouldn't the insurance company charge more money for this?
  • TexanThom
    TexanThom Posts: 778
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    i only smoke when i drink... so, i dont take breaks to smoke at work. and, i dont know where this money goes, i will learn more later. in my head, why not charge folks that are obese with awful eating habits & that are sedentary.


    Never heard of someone getting fat sitting next to an overweight person.
  • taylor5877
    taylor5877 Posts: 1,792 Member
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    i only smoke when i drink... so, i dont take breaks to smoke at work. and, i dont know where this money goes, i will learn more later. in my head, why not charge folks that are obese with awful eating habits & that are sedentary.

    come up with a definition of obese for a company to use as a blanket policy...
  • bizco
    bizco Posts: 1,949 Member
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    i only smoke when i drink... so, i dont take breaks to smoke at work. and, i dont know where this money goes, i will learn more later. in my head, why not charge folks that are obese with awful eating habits & that are sedentary.
    I agree. Fat (yes, I said fat) people should be charged the same amount. Where are the studies about the medical costs of overweight people? Same for alcoholics.
  • Witchmoo
    Witchmoo Posts: 261 Member
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    When you smoke you knowingly put a poison or toxin into your body.....being fat and eating too much, whilst unhealthy, isn't a poison or toxin......maybe?
  • Dub_D
    Dub_D Posts: 1,760 Member
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    As an ex-smoker, why flirt with these issues? I'm not a rabid anti-smoker, but I can't help but asking why you smoke when you drink?

    I can't speak for her, but alcohol and cigarettes are a match made in heaven. So. damn. good.
  • kvalmera
    kvalmera Posts: 129 Member
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    Wow well if that's the case they should charge more for everything a person does that can cause increased risks including smoking, being overweight, family history, etc. I work in the ER and lots of our staff smokes (nurses and 2 doctors) - they go out the ambulance bay on the side of the ER and take their smoke breaks. Even though the hospital has a no smoking campus wide ordinance.

    I don't think ONE group should be targeted. If you are going to target one group, you need to target ALL.
  • BrettPGH
    BrettPGH Posts: 4,720 Member
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    Good for them.

    Until they do it to fat people, THEN it's discrimination and bullying. Right?


    :noway:
  • EnchantedEvening
    EnchantedEvening Posts: 671 Member
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    The insurance companies charge it as a risk factor, similar to auto insurance charging more for an 18-year old driver versus a 40-year old driver.

    If the insurance companies start charging more for obese patients, those costs will eventually get passed on as well.

    I'm not sure how your employer can enforce this, though. How would they verify if someone is a smoker, especially if (like you) they only smoke when drinking? Weight goes into a medical record, but smoking doesn't (unless you admit to it). I'm genuinely curious about this.

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