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Jump to full article: Winston-Salem (NC) Journal, 2009-10-18
Author: JOURNAL EDITORIAL STAFF
Intro: The State Employees Health Plan is about to reward people who take better care of their own health with lower costs. Those who smoke, or who are obese, will pay more. Beginning July 1, 2010, the 600,000 state employees, retirees and teachers in the plan will be enrolled in either of two packages. In one, they will pay 20 percent of their medical costs. In the other, 30 percent. Also starting that day, smokers will be enrolled in the more expensive program. . . .
North Carolina is not breaking new ground here. It is doing what is smart for both its workers and its taxpayers. Other states already differentiate in their health-care coverage based on smoking.
SEANC may not get very far claiming that testing for tobacco use is an invasion of privacy. At many state offices, state employees are allowed smoke breaks. . . .
Programs exist to help employees with both smoking and obesity.
In the future, if individual state employees choose not to take care of themselves, that is their own business only to an extent. While the program may seem harsh to some, state employees are using a plan that costs taxpayers billions of dollars a year, and those taxpayers have a right to expect that employees will help keep costs down. They can do so either by living healthfully or by paying a little extra.
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