aneisu
05-17-2005, 01:49 PM
This is happening more and more across the country - what do you think? As a nonsmoker I'm glad I wouldn't have to pay - but... I'm just not sure its a good idea.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0505/12smoke.html
State workers who smoke will pay more for insurance
By NANCY BADERTSCHER, JAMES SALZER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/12/05
Teachers and other state employees who smoke will have to pay $40 a month more for health insurance starting July 1.
Employees are fuming over the surcharge, which hits state workers, public school teachers and their families who admit to smoking or using tobacco in the past 12 months.
Laurie Reid, a secretary with the Board of Pardons and Paroles and a smoker, said her insurance was jumping from $74 to $117 a month.
"That's a lot of money for many state employees," she said. "Our hands are tied. We have to have health insurance. What are we to do?"
About 650,000 people are on the state health insurance plan.
Three states — West Virginia, Alabama and Kentucky — are already imposing a surcharge on health insurance for employees who smoke, a trend that has been sweeping private industry as well.
In Georgia, state employees are expected to abide by the honor system when they sign up for insurance coverage and are asked whether they use tobacco, said Tim Burgess, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Health. Those caught lying will lose their insurance for a year, he said.
Senate Majority Leader Tommie Williams (R-Lyons) said the surcharge, which helps limit the increase in premiums for state employees, was adopted to fill a projected $400 million shortfall in the insurance fund. Gov. Sonny Perdue proposed a 13 percent rise in premiums, but lawmakers dropped it to 9.5 percent.
"Smokers are very expensive. In the private sector, you pay more if you are a smoker and you pay more for your spouse," Williams said.
Williams said many state employees didn't realize the insurance system was self-insured, meaning premiums must go up to meet rising health costs and claims.
"Anytime your costs go up for a plan, people are going to grumble," Burgess said. "But I think what I ask state employees to remember is, the costs of the plan are outstripping our ability to pay for it."
Burgess said it's unclear exactly how much money the tobacco surcharge will raise because the state does not know how many of its employees or their spouses smoke. Perdue's initial recommendation of a $9 per month surcharge estimated a savings of $1.7 million in insurance costs. Legislators increased the surcharge to $27, which would have raised $5.1 million.
Budget gap plugged
Tim Connell, director of the state Office of Planning and Budget, said the surcharge was raised to $40 because the legislators' plan still left a $4 million hole in the health program's budget. The final decision was made by staffers in the governor's office, Community Health and Connell's office.
Employees upset about the higher payments were expected to attend a meeting today of the Department of Community Health's board.
Jerry Head, who has worked for the state for 30 years, said he had gotten accustomed to seeing his health insurance premiums go up every year.
"But the one thing that really ticks me is the smoking penalty," said Head, a non-smoker who works at Georgia Regional Hospital in Atlanta. His wife smokes and probably would have used the threat of having to pay more for health insurance as an incentive to quit, he said.
"But ? even should she quit today, we still must pay the penalty of $40 per month for the next year — in effect, penalizing us for a past action that had always been previously tolerated," he said.
During the last three years, state employees have experienced double-digit increases in their health insurance premiums and little in the way of pay increases.
"Basically, it's become a situation where the employer will provide the health insurance, but nobody can afford it," said Ralph Williams, president of the Service Employees International Union Local 198.
Rep. Alan Powell (D-Hartwell), a smoker who says he is trying to quit, thinks the surcharge is unfair.
"It's a legal product," Powell said. "If you want a surcharge, don't just put it on smoking. Why not do it based on weight? If you are going to put the surcharge on smoking, put it on that six-pack drinker."
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0505/12smoke.html
State workers who smoke will pay more for insurance
By NANCY BADERTSCHER, JAMES SALZER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/12/05
Teachers and other state employees who smoke will have to pay $40 a month more for health insurance starting July 1.
Employees are fuming over the surcharge, which hits state workers, public school teachers and their families who admit to smoking or using tobacco in the past 12 months.
Laurie Reid, a secretary with the Board of Pardons and Paroles and a smoker, said her insurance was jumping from $74 to $117 a month.
"That's a lot of money for many state employees," she said. "Our hands are tied. We have to have health insurance. What are we to do?"
About 650,000 people are on the state health insurance plan.
Three states — West Virginia, Alabama and Kentucky — are already imposing a surcharge on health insurance for employees who smoke, a trend that has been sweeping private industry as well.
In Georgia, state employees are expected to abide by the honor system when they sign up for insurance coverage and are asked whether they use tobacco, said Tim Burgess, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Health. Those caught lying will lose their insurance for a year, he said.
Senate Majority Leader Tommie Williams (R-Lyons) said the surcharge, which helps limit the increase in premiums for state employees, was adopted to fill a projected $400 million shortfall in the insurance fund. Gov. Sonny Perdue proposed a 13 percent rise in premiums, but lawmakers dropped it to 9.5 percent.
"Smokers are very expensive. In the private sector, you pay more if you are a smoker and you pay more for your spouse," Williams said.
Williams said many state employees didn't realize the insurance system was self-insured, meaning premiums must go up to meet rising health costs and claims.
"Anytime your costs go up for a plan, people are going to grumble," Burgess said. "But I think what I ask state employees to remember is, the costs of the plan are outstripping our ability to pay for it."
Burgess said it's unclear exactly how much money the tobacco surcharge will raise because the state does not know how many of its employees or their spouses smoke. Perdue's initial recommendation of a $9 per month surcharge estimated a savings of $1.7 million in insurance costs. Legislators increased the surcharge to $27, which would have raised $5.1 million.
Budget gap plugged
Tim Connell, director of the state Office of Planning and Budget, said the surcharge was raised to $40 because the legislators' plan still left a $4 million hole in the health program's budget. The final decision was made by staffers in the governor's office, Community Health and Connell's office.
Employees upset about the higher payments were expected to attend a meeting today of the Department of Community Health's board.
Jerry Head, who has worked for the state for 30 years, said he had gotten accustomed to seeing his health insurance premiums go up every year.
"But the one thing that really ticks me is the smoking penalty," said Head, a non-smoker who works at Georgia Regional Hospital in Atlanta. His wife smokes and probably would have used the threat of having to pay more for health insurance as an incentive to quit, he said.
"But ? even should she quit today, we still must pay the penalty of $40 per month for the next year — in effect, penalizing us for a past action that had always been previously tolerated," he said.
During the last three years, state employees have experienced double-digit increases in their health insurance premiums and little in the way of pay increases.
"Basically, it's become a situation where the employer will provide the health insurance, but nobody can afford it," said Ralph Williams, president of the Service Employees International Union Local 198.
Rep. Alan Powell (D-Hartwell), a smoker who says he is trying to quit, thinks the surcharge is unfair.
"It's a legal product," Powell said. "If you want a surcharge, don't just put it on smoking. Why not do it based on weight? If you are going to put the surcharge on smoking, put it on that six-pack drinker."