The company I work for has instituted a wellness program. So far, you are charged a higher insurance rate if you refuse to participate in a questionare and blood draw. The results are automatically adjusted down by 30% if you test positive for nicotine use. I know they are planning to ban all nicotine (including ecigs) on company grounds and we cannot leave per the attendance policy. My main problem is that I think that this company (privately insured through Blue Cross/Shield) is planning to adjust insurance premiums based on these health standards, automatically putting nicotine users in a higher risk category regardless of the means by which they obtain nicotine or their actual health testing results other than nicotine testing. I've been trying to gain a little about lifestyle discrimination for Arkansas and ran across this article.
http://www.harvardschoolofpublichealth.org/faculty/michelle-mello/files/Wellness_paper_PDF.pdfAm I right in thinking that this is illegal to implement? They have stayed below 20% for the smoking rate adjustment and allowed for smokers to avoid that rate with yearly attendance of a smoking cessation program. Are they limited to merely expanding the scope of that program to include more health problems, or can they further adjust a smoker's rate beyond that rate or drop the benefit of non-adjusted rates for attendees of the smoking cessation program? Also I know that several states have lifestyle discrimination laws but have had trouble finding which ones so I don't know if it is possible for them to include nicotine as a reason for termination or refusal to hire in the future.
If anyone already has this information, it would be really helpful. In the meantime, I'll keep searching.
Thanks
If anyone already has this information, it would be really helpful. In the meantime, I'll keep searching.
Thanks
