 "Photo: Jay Bailey")
Members of the MTSU faculty, staff and administration will undergo a massive increase in the premium of their health care if they do not quit smoking by the first of July.
Tennessee passed the Tobacco Use Surcharge and Quitter's Refund program that will go into effect on January 1, 2010. Any state employee who is considered a smoker during open-enrollment next October, which is an employee who has not quit by July, will be assessed $50 a month on top of their current premium.
"Essentially, we all save in the long run," said Pat Spangler, the medical director for MTSU Health Services. "We save in the number of diseases and in the number of early deaths and we save money; it's a win-win all the way around."
Karen Milstead, the benefits specialist for the MTSU Department of Human Resources, said during the open enrollment that each employee will have to sign a form that certifies whether they are a smoker or a non-smoker. The smoker's will be charged the Tobacco Use Surcharge.
"The state will also be assessing penalties for perjury," Milstead said. "Those who certify non-smoker when they do smoke are also immediately liable for a $300 penalty."
The MTSU Human Resources Web site stated that the additional $300 penalty was due to the perjury breaching the employee contract with the state. According to the Web site that while human resources has not decided on randomized testing, the university reserves the right to issue a saliva test for cotinine levels.
"The certified smokers will have the ability to get back at least six months of the surcharge," Milstead said. "If they remain tobacco free for six months, they will receive a refund for the $300."
Spangler said that if an employee quits smoking they would not only save $50 a month, the estimated savings would be "in the billions."
"The biggest incentive is the long term health of the individual," Spangler said. "If you continue smoking, your risk of emphysema, COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease], and lung cancer goes up - so the idea here is that if we can lower the number of people of smoking, we can lower the number of long term diseases, therefore lowering our premiums."
Spangler said that in the big picture, many smokers end up uninsured, and the burden of their hospital bills fall upon the taxpayer.
Richard Chapman, the director of MTSU Student Health Services, said with the new financial constraints, many people will be forced to quit.
"This is coupled with the SCHIP tax in order to fund the children's health insurance program at the federal level," Chapman said. "They put a 60 cent per pack tax increase, that has made cigarettes that much more expensive, so a lot of people are going to give them up anyway."
The Human Resources Web site provides MTSU employees with a list of smoking cessation aids that will be offered in May at a low $5 co-pay, including Chantix and buproprion.
Spangler said that the withdrawal symptoms for tobacco addicts vary from person to person, but generally last for a few months.
"It is in our benefit to pay $150-200 a month for three months, rather than having to pay for hospitalization, for pneumonia, lung cancer, emphysema, breathing machines and oxygen for this person's life," Spangler said.
Many smoking faculty and staff said that they felt singled out and segregated by the new law, however they respectfully declined to mention their names.
Chapman said that this trend in legislation is showing benefits to private companies as well, and the financial incentive may cause more companies to adopt similar policies.
For more information on the Tobacco Use Surcharge, the Quitter's Refund program, and smoking cessation aids, you can visit hrs.web.mtsu.edu
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