mandatory nicotine testing for work.

[cookiebun]

We just finished open enrollment at work. They've started a new thing for everyone who claims they don't use tobacco on their health insurance. After the first of the year we have to a clinic of their choice on our own time to be tested for nicotine and blood sugar levels. I'm sure glad I weaned myself off nicotine more than a year ago. I'm going to get about a $30 discount on my insurance for being nic free.
Just something to think about folks, try to wean your self off nicotine.

 

[jon5212]

Nicotine doesn't stay in your body very long, go 1 day and it won't show anything. You can probably thank Obamacare for this as well.

 

[Absintheur]

I don't think nicotine testing is fair...sooner or later someone will challenge this in court. The Mythbusters proved eating a large amount of poppyseed cake will result in a false positive...maybe they should see if eating a lot of potatoes or tomatoes will do the same in a nicotine test.

 

[DEVO357]

I don't think nicotine testing is fair...sooner or later someone will challenge this in court. The Mythbusters proved eating a large amount of poppyseed cake will result in a false positive...maybe they should see if eating a lot of potatoes or tomatoes will do the same in a nicotine test.

Really not fair or I have to assume not even legal!
Is the $30.00 savings total for the year or every time you pay into your insurance? BOOOOOO! friggin insurance companies...........

 

[bigdaddybrink1]

My company does somethin similar, but wont test. They do make us sign sayin we dont use tabacco. Which vaping allows me to say im tabacco free. Course its 60 bux a paycheck!!! Good luck!!!

 

[cookiebun]

Nicotine doesn't stay in your body very long, go 1 day and it won't show anything. You can probably thank Obamacare for this as well.

I don't think nicotine testing is fair...sooner or later someone will challenge this in court. The Mythbusters proved eating a large amount of poppyseed cake will result in a false positive...maybe they should see if eating a lot of potatoes or tomatoes will do the same in a nicotine test.

Really not fair or I have to assume not even legal!
Is the $30.00 savings total for the year or every time you pay into your insurance? BOOOOOO! friggin insurance companies...........

1) They were threatening to do this long before Obamacare.


2)They test for a by product of nicotine, Cotninine (Cotinine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) which stays in your system for weeks.
I was vaping less than 1/2 mill of nicotine and still testing positive. You can order nicotine home test kits from various places online. There's an older thread here about nicotine testing and eggplant. We figured you'd have to eat more than 20 pounds of eggplant to get the same amount of nicotine as a smoker.

3) I get a $30 discount per pay period. That's $780 bucks a year. I just spent that much getting new brakes on my car.

I'm just saying it's worth it to get off the nic.

Article from local paper:
More employers demand applicants quit smoking | The Columbus Dispatch

Yes, I hate my insurance company. I hope all my other mandatory tests come out outrageously bad. I'm not doing anything about any health issue I have until I'm sure it's going to cost them a boat load of money. That's payback for them being thieves every chance they get.

 

[volume control]

I passed by not using nicotine products for 5 days. They do test for cotinine though which is what nicotine turns into. Fortunately i believe there is almost always some level of cotinine in someones system, and that of someone who hasnt smoked 4-5 days typically isnt enough to set off the trigger.


edit: I am a non tobacco user, with excellent health. They should give me discounts for mountain biking and exercising frequently, not tax me for consuming nicotine and alcohol. I dont drink coffee/caffeine products, should be a discount for that too

 

[tomaKBRN]

3) I get a $30 discount per pay period. That's $780 bucks a year. I just spent that much getting new brakes on my car.

WHAT>!?
dude you just justified buying everything you like online, with all those savings + no stinkies>!!!
uuuu shiny

 

[tA71ana]

Somehow this smacks of "Unreasonable Search and Seizure" to me. I'm not a lawyer, but this needs to be challenged. Someone can drink a six-pack every night, go into work the next morning sober (more or less) but they aren't getting tested for alcohol consumption? I wonder just how many of these antis are actually drinkers, probably more than wil admit.

 

[nanovapr]

It may be easy to 'get by' it, but if you ever have a claim and they find out later you are using nicotine, it might not be so good.

 

[Buggs5347]

I'm working on it. Started at 24mg and am now on 6 mg working in 3 mg.

 

[Rocketpunk]

Part of me in conflicted by this. I want to shout, "Nicotine? Then, what?"

The whole "anything larger than 16 ounces is illegal" with soda pop in New York. Seriously?

Where will this end? Who is behind this? What is going on? I want to know!

I don't want to delve in politics, but this is where I will start to draw the line with Federal Government. I understand banning or limiting consumption of certain things. But this is plain ridiculous. When should I get worried? What should I be doing? I want to know what I can be doing to help.

EDIT: And you know what? A big f u to insurance companies and banks. A great big F U.

 

[sherid]

It's worth the extra money I pay per paycheck to keep them out of my personal life. I signed the nicotine use disclosure form without hesitation. I also will not submit the times I spend exercising or participate in a weight loss contest for money. I find the whole behavioral reward/punishment system gruesome. Some things are worth the extra money. This is one of them for me.

 

[Rocketpunk]

This extremely irritates me. Someone ban coffee, then. And milk. And butter. And eggs. And red meat. Where will this end?

 

[cookiebun]

It's worth the extra money I pay per paycheck to keep them out of my personal life. I signed the nicotine use disclosure form without hesitation. I also will not submit the times I spend exercising or participate in a weight loss contest for money. I find the whole behavioral reward/punishment system gruesome. Some things are worth the extra money. This is one of them for me.

I wish I could afford that.

Here's another interesting thread on this topic:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...urance-increase-tobacco-users-ecig-users.html
Read Rolygate's replies if you want to understand where your employer/insurance company is coming from.
I think employers could just make things easier for themselves if they were allowed to refuse health insurance to tobacco users.


Bugs5347: Great job!

 

[sherid]

Speak for yourself when you advance the idea of being able to refuse insurance coverage to tobacco users. Next, would be refusal to cover alcohol users, then motorcycle riders, then overweight people, etc. etc. Excuse me for my stupidity if you must, but insurance is for people who need it because they are ill, not for the luxury of being able to produce an unused insurance card. If you want to start down that route, you are setting a very dangerous precedent for all people, not just for smokers. Further down the line, there could be refusal to cover those with a genetic disposition for heart disease and cancer. I don't make a lot of money, but my personal freedom cannot be bought with an extra $50 a month.

Personally, I have not even met my deductible since the birth of my son 20 years ago. If you want to talk who should pay more, it should be for those who use it most, like car insurance premiums.

 

[CJB]

Make no mistake, its your employers who choose the tobacco free incentive (and decides to test), not the insurance company. The only exception would be if you have an individual plan. But employers are the ones who choose the incentives, benefits, their premium contributions, and coverage levels. Not the insurance company.
And statistically, tobacco users are more expensive to insure. We have the freedom for our lifestyle, but tobacco users drive up cost for non-tobacco users. So they have an argument too. Its the same gripe with auto insurance for driving a red sports car and being 17 years old. Expensive. Or life insurance. They take lifestyle into account as well when determining rates. High risk people are more expensive to insure all together. Not a big shocker.

 

[sherid]

Actually, I believe that the most expensive group for insurance companies and others is the elderly, especially those with Alzheimer's. As our country's elderly population grows at an unparalleled rate, we should be terrified at the costs ahead. The average cost of Alzheimer's care is close to $7000 a month, not including prescription medicines. Some say that by age 85, half the population will be afflicted with Alzheimers, and as the Baby Boomers get to that age, I cannot even fathom what lies ahead. Those with risky lifestyles actually save the rest of the population money if it is indeed true that smoking or driving red sports cars shortens life significantly. No pension/social security payouts for them. No long term care in a nursing home.

 

[Stricklin]

Buckle up folks here in the US. We get to experience european medicine in its early stages, beginning with a 16 trillion dollar debt at the starting line, before any of the infratructure has been set up. Folks may deny it, but single payer is in the works. If you think insurance companies are bad, wait till you have no option but the ONE option. Dont believe it? What can you say when the folks in charge are saying it? /shrugs.

ObamaCare a Trojan Horse for Single-Payer - YouTube

 

[SissySpike]

I would like to know what actually is the number one killer in America? Cigarettes, Big Macs, Drugs, Alzheimer, Drunk Drivers, Texters, Pollution, Stupidity, Idiocracy ? We have no idea we are fed full of statistics and corporate fed media spouted garbage, Saying what ever they like they all have numbers to back up what they say. They are all also full of it. We are giving up our personal freedoms at an alarming rate!
What ever happened to my constitutional right to reasonable expatiation of privacy? Or Do I have to pay an extra 30$ per pay check to not undergo the ultimate invasion of privacy!