Health costs relative to tobacco users

Miriam George

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 02-18-02 AT 05:33PM (CST)[/font][p]We self-fund our health insurance and are considering tying premium cost to health issues, especially tobacco use. Can anyone provide me with data they might have that shows the overall increase in healthcare costs and/or risks for smokers vs. non-smokers?

Do any of you "penalize" tobacco users in your healthcare premium structure?

Margaret Morford

Because "penalize" evokes some pretty strong reactions, why don't you put it in terms of bonusing those with healthy life styles and rebating back to them a portion of the premiums they pay for their insurance. Several years back, I put together a program called "Life Style Credits" for my employer, who was a manufacturer in a rural southern town. Read that lots of smokers and high fat diets. Twice a year employees could sign up to participate in the program. This offered incentive to those that missed it for the first half year to participate for the last half. They got a $50.00 bonus for not smoking during the year, a $50.00 bonus if they were within the weight requirements for their height and frame and $50.00 if they had no claims during the previous year (This one was appreciated by our young employees who seldom had claims). The benefits manager weighed anyone who wanted to participate and they signed a statement that said they hadn't used tobacco products during the previous six months and granted permission to be tested for tobacco usage if requested to do so by the company. The checks were cut 90 days later, so our employees thought about their health four times a year, twice when they signed up and twice when they got their checks. It really raised awareness and many of them dieted to reach their weight range. Several quite smoking. Everybody paid the same premiums, but the healthier people got a portion of theirs back each year (rather than penalizing those that smoked or were overweight). Market your campaign as the company wants you to be healthy and live long. We got lots of publicity and it was considered to be a pretty innovative program, especially 12 years ago. Call me if you have questions.

Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@mleesmith.com[/email]
[url]http://www.thehredge.net[/url]