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North Carolina state health plan to penalize smokers, obese 

The state health plan in North Carolina, home of cigarette makers Reynolds American Inc. and Lorillard Inc., will shift more expenses to smokers and those who are overweight to try to curb medical costs.

Those who use tobacco or have a body mass index above a specified level and don't quit or lose weight will be placed in an insurance plan that pays 70 percent of claims, the health system said on its Web site. Members who can prove through tests that they don't smoke and that they meet the body-mass threshold can choose an option paying 80 percent, officials said.

"We think we'll have $13 million of cost savings in the next fiscal year," Lacey Barnes, deputy executive administrator of the plan, said in an interview today from Raleigh, the state capital. "As smokers quit, there will likely be savings in medical costs."

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