Town Of Vienna To Introduce Insurance Discount For Non-Smokers

Non-smoking Town of Vienna employees will be eligible for a 10 percent premium discount on their health insurance later this year under a new policy that offers incentives for healthy behavior.

Administrative Services Director Nancy McMahon and Town Manager John Schoeberlein will spend the next few weeks meeting with employees to introduce the plan, after the majority of Town Council members supported the policy at its Jan. 10 work session.

The policy will affect about 200 employees. About 110 to 120 of them, including all of the town's sworn police officers, do not currently smoke. Cathy Salgado, director of parks and recreation, estimated half of her employees smoke or have dependents who do.

Everyone on the policy would have to be a non-smoker in order for the employee to receive the discount, McMahon said. Non-smokers would sign a non-smoking statement, but the policy would largely be enforced on the honor system.

Employees who smoke will pay 10 percent more on health insurance than an employee who does not smoke, McMahon said.

The town won't implement the policy for at least six months to allow time for   employees and family members to enroll in smoking cessation programs or begin using nicotine patches or pills to quit. The town would cover all of those program costs, as well as co-pays and prescriptions.

Employees enrolled in a health maintenance organization (HMO) plan would save $3.79 per month for a single plan,$10.55 for a two-person plan, and $17. 71 for a family plan. 

Under the town's preferred provider option (PPO) plan, employees would save $4.40 per month for a single plan, $12.23 for a two-person plan and $20.54 for a family plan.

Employees who smoke rack up higher costs for the town, McMahon said, as studies have shown they are more likely to have hypertension or high blood pressure, among more serious conditions.

"You're going to have healthier employees, lower absenteeism and improved physical conditioning, which leads to fewer workers comp injuries," McMahon said.

The initiative was supported by council members Laurie Cole, Laurie DiRocco, Edythe Kelleher, Dan Dellinger and Mayor Jane Seeman.

Dellinger said the council had a responsibility as stewards of the budget to save the town costs.

"Health care costs are not going to be going down, they are only going up," Councilwoman Laurie DiRocco, who supported the policy, said during the work session. "This is a positive way to affect that."

Council members Mike Polychrones and Howard Springsteen said they would not support the policy,which Polychrones said smacked of Big Brotherism.

"Where do we draw the line?" Polychrones said.

"That's a slippery slope," Springsteen said.

The policy is the first of its kind among local jurisdictions, McMahon said. Fairfax County has considered implementing a similar policy, but not until 2013, Town Council members said.

Springsteen favored a cash incentive — that, for example, could give employees $20 a month for not smoking — instead.

Schoeberlein said the policy worked just like car insurance: "People who are not careful driving pay higher premiums," he said.

Federal law already allows employers to discount health insurance premiums up to 20 percent. When health care reform takes effect, that amount will increase to 30 percent, McMahon said.

A preliminary plan for the incentive would allow the town to increase the 10 percent discount to 20 percent, and then 30 percent, in subsequent years. A final plan has not been submitted to the council.

A 30 percent reduction could eventually mean a $1,600 annual discount for some families, DiRocco said during the work session.

The town has offered health programs in the past, but hasn't seen a huge response, McMahon said. The town recently began a biggest loser program with a cash prize, and the response has been overwhelming, she said. Forty-one employees are signed up.

"Everyone's got different things that motivate them," Schoeberlein said.

Update 7:30 a.m. 1/13/11: McMahon said as the incentive takes effect, employees who smoke will pay 10 percent more on health insurance than an employee who does not smoke.