State employees who smoke will pay more for health insurance

ATLANTA - State employees who smoke will soon have to start paying an extra $40 a month for health insurance.

The surcharge will affect state workers, public school teachers and their family members who admit to smoking or using tobacco in the past year. It will begin July 1.

Employees will be expected to use the honor system when they sign up for coverage and are asked whether they use tobacco, said Tim Burgess, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Health. Those caught lying will lose their health insurance for a year, he said.

Senate Majority Leader Tommie Williams, R-Lyons, said the surcharge will help limit the increase in premiums for state employees and was adopted to fill a projected $400 million shortfall in the insurance fund. Gov. Sonny Perdue proposed a 13 percent rise in premiums, but lawmakers dropped it to 9.5 percent.

``Smokers are very expensive. In the private sector, you pay more if you are a smoker and you pay more for your spouse,'' Williams said.

About 650,000 people are on the state health insurance plan.

But the surcharge comes as unwelcome news to some employees.

Laurie Reid, a smoker who works as a secretary for the state Board of Pardons and Paroles, said her insurance was going up from $74 to $117 a month.

``That's a lot of money for many state employees,'' Reid said. ``Our hands are tied. We have to have health insurance. What are we to do?''

State Rep. Alan Powell, D-Hartwell, a smoker who says he is trying to quit, thinks the surcharge is unfair.

``It's a legal product,'' Powell said. ``If you want a surcharge, don't just put it on smoking. Why not do it based on weight? If you are going to put the surcharge on smoking, put it on that six-pack drinker.''

Williams said many state employees did not realize the insurance system was self-insured, meaning premiums must go up to meet rising health costs and claims.

``Anytime your costs go up for a plan, people are going to grumble,'' Burgess said. ``But I think what I ask state employees to remember is, the costs of the plan are outstripping our ability to pay for it.''

Three states West Virginia, Alabama and Kentucky are already imposing a surcharge on health insurance for employees who smoke, a trend that has also been seen in the private sector.