Insurance companies have the right to charge more for smokers, as healthcare costs are 25% to 50% more likely to be very much higher for a smoker than for the average non-smoker. Morally, if they are paying, then they have the right to exclude smokers unless taken on at a higher premium. There is no reason to treat people differently from confirmed, honest smokers just because they lie on their applications or they fool themselves that they are not smokers (a percentage of people have no real grip on reality: when questioned as to whether they have quit or not in quit-smoking health programmes, some people who answer that they have quit are then found in tests to be still smoking).
However, enlightened companies know that e-cig users have about the same health risks as non-smokers, as do Swedish Snus users (which of course is proven), and they do include e-cigarette users in the non-smoking group. This does not apply to other types of smokeless tobacco users. But insurance being what it is, you have to AGREE with the insurance company on this issue or they have the right not to pay out, as nicotine use may be interpreted by a court as being equal to tobacco use for this purpose (even though it's not) - especially as e-cigarettes are of course legally now a tobacco product in the US.
Remember - you can't PROVE that e-cig use is as healthy as being a non-smoker. It's proven for Snus, but there is no long-term data for e-cig use as it's too soon for that, they were only sold in the US from late 2006.
Keep in mind also that they certainly have the right to exclude NRT users, since around 98% of them will go back to smoking - as is proven by reams of research. Almost all NRT users revert to smoking, so in effect NRT users are smokers - and there's no way to differentiate an NRT user from an e-cig user by any kind of test.
There are several types of test: some specifically test for a tobacco smoker and no other type of user, but most tests just show nicotine or its recent use. A CO test (carbon monoxide in the bloodstream) will just reveal tobacco smokers but not other types of nicotine user, but this is an expensive test. It was common in the past, and is still used in some labs with access to blood test equipment, for precise determination of smoking status (for example during a quit-smoking programme where NRTs are being used). However the cotinine test for urine is much more widely available now - it's quick and cheap, and just tests for the nicotine metabolyte cotinine. Any/every recreational or other type of nic user tests positive.
As it detects different levels, excuses cannot be used. Although everyone tests positive for nicotine as it is part of the diet, non-nic users test very low. On a scale of 0 to 300, non-smokers register between 1 and 3, e-cig users register 50 to 200, smokers register 100 to 300. Therefore the levels are used as a guide. On cheap tests, anything below about 10 does not show, but anything above that registers 'as a smoker'. Therefore you will test positive if you are a normal e-cig user.
There are no excuses accepted for failing a nicotine test (i.e. the urine cotinine test) when the insurance company does not specifically exclude e-cig users. However those open-minded companies do not normally test, as there could be several reasons why a test comes out positive. Companies that test normally accept no excuses. In any case, NRT users are effectively smokers, since they almost certainly will be again soon; and insurance companies have no financial incentive to be nice to e-cig users as there is no market pressure to do so.
If you are choosing your own insurance provider, you could look for one who specifically grants e-cigarette users exemption from the smoking provisions. In the case of a claim they would be within their rights to order a carbon monoxide test, to test for smoking but not nic use.
If you are filling in a form at work or where you do not know if they allow e-cig users exclusion from classification as smokers, then you will need to either contact the company to find out, or answer 'no' to the 'are you a smoker?' question and note in the comments that you are exclusively an e-cigarette user (and risk being classed as a smoker).
If you answer 'no', then legally they may be within their right to refuse you employment or refuse to pay for treatment when tests show nicotine use. For example if you go to hospital needing treatment then blood will be taken immediately, and one of the tests performed will be for nicotine, so you can't avoid this test, and it may be taken in an emergency situation. If you have have one test on file that shows positive, then your medical records will show that, at that time, you were a smoker.
Employment tests
If you think that an employer is confused about the health implications of smoking vs vaping, and you think you should not be excluded from employment on health grounds since you will not suffer from the health negatives that smokers may experience, then perhaps you might decide to abstain from nicotine for a week in order to get the job. You could try vaping zero-nic as it could be better than stopping altogether for a week.
Zero-nic liquid does not contain any nicotine and therefore will not cause a positive result in any type of test. However, it has been shown in the past that some zero-nic liquids did in fact contain nicotine, probably due to cross-contamination (using the same containers and mixing tools used for nic liquids). In this case you will test positive even though you thought you were on zero-nic. Note also that it will take at least 3 days to remove all the nicotine and metabolytes from your system and test clean, and that is if you take positive steps to hasten the process by drinking lots of diuretics / cranberry juice etc - probably a week if you don't do this. In order to be absolutely certain of passing any kind of nic test you will need to:
1. Use zero-nic liquid for a week.
2. Make sure it is in fact zero by testing it with an e-liquid nicotine assay kit (get one on Ebay).
3. Get a nicotine drug test kit (again on Ebay) and test yourself 1 full day before the test. If you fail then you'll have to work very hard with diuretics.
Sorry this has been a TLDR post but it isn't possible to put all this info in a short post.
