Smokers need not apply?

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So I've reached my 2 year mark & getting a little restless, toying with the idea of moving into a different dept or facility. I was looking at a website for another hospital & they have posted that they will no longer hire anyone that uses nicotine which will be screened for during the employment physical. Not an issue for me, but I found the bold underlined statement a little jarring. I understand that in healthcare we want to promote healthy lifestyles, but dictating personal legal habits to employees is a bit of a push don't you think? Is this common in other areas & just reaching my neck of the woods?

if you want to work you better stop smoking. soon you better lose weight tok. and save the "genetics and thyroid excuses". mandatory mile runs for all. better be under a GENEROUS 15 minutes too! that is probably next on the list. i don't see anything wrong with that either, after all you can choose to quit ot not work at such a facility. employers can choose to hire who they want for any reason unless they are discriminating against a protected group and even then........

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It's not just healthcare. My husband is looking for a job as a firefighter and to apply, you have to sign a sworn affidavit that you have not used nicotine in any form for a year prior. They do nicotine testing even while you are working there. I have also seen that almost any job in the state of Florida requires that you are a non smoker, regardless of title. This has to do with health benefits. I don't necessarily agree but I believe it's the direction we're going...

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Specializes in Going to Peds!.

Welcome, Obamacare!

Insurers can still rate insureds based on age & risk factors like smoking. Pretty shortly, you'll need to submit a hair sample & have a BMI

Maybe there'll be classes of workers. The smokers & drinkers & obese will all be non-benefitted float/flex positions.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
Welcome, Obamacare!

Insurers can still rate insureds based on age & risk factors like smoking. Pretty shortly, you'll need to submit a hair sample & have a BMI

Maybe there'll be classes of workers. The smokers & drinkers & obese will all be non-benefitted float/flex positions.

Sent from my HTC One X using allnurses.com

Aww...I RARELY drink, BMI is 22.4, and I don't smoke...I would like a balance on my team. :blink: ;)

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Welcome, Obamacare!

Insurers can still rate insureds based on age & risk factors like smoking. Pretty shortly, you'll need to submit a hair sample & have a BMI

Maybe there'll be classes of workers. The smokers & drinkers & obese will all be non-benefitted float/flex positions.

Sent from my HTC One X using allnurses.com

You're right, darn Obamacare for forcing employers to provide heath insurance for their employees. The obese and the smokers were so much better off before!

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You're right, darn Obamacare for forcing employers to provide heath insurance for their employees. The obese and the smokers were so much better off before!

Glad we agree.

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Specializes in Pedi.
It's not just healthcare. My husband is looking for a job as a firefighter and to apply, you have to sign a sworn affidavit that you have not used nicotine in any form for a year prior. They do nicotine testing even while you are working there. I have also seen that almost any job in the state of Florida requires that you are a non smoker, regardless of title. This has to do with health benefits. I don't necessarily agree but I believe it's the direction we're going...

Same thing in my city. It's in the contract for the city's police officers that they cannot smoke- on OR off duty and it's grounds for termination if they do. I'm not sure if the firefighters have the same rule, but I would imagine they do.

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Specializes in Going to Peds!.

You're right, darn Obamacare for forcing employers to provide heath insurance for their employees. The obese and the smokers were so much better off before!

Citizens are required to have health insurance or pay a fine. Employers are not required to provide insurance for all their employees. So, maybe the smokers, obese & alcoholics WERE better off before in that they weren't disqualified from employment based on risky health habits/behaviors engaged in on their own, personal time & they were eligible for the same health benefits as all the other employees of the employer. Now, many companies are charging smokers more for their premium and/or refusing to hire smokers and/or requiring currently employed smokers to quit.

I don't smoke. I don't drink. I don't do drugs. I'm all for the smokers buying their own insurance or paying the additional premium cost. I also think all hospitals should be smoke free. I don't think employers have a right to deny employment based on a person engaging in a legal, albeit harmful, activity on their own personal time. Sure, make them pay the extra insurance cost. That's fair. Heck, even charge them 100% of their insurance premium with no employer subsidy kick in as a benefit.

(And Obamacare is just the current scapegoat. It's convenient now because after you're kicked off a group health plan, you will still be LEGALLY REQUIRED to purchase your own insurance. And smoker's rates are higher than non.)

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

Ehh...smokers and obese and alcoholic users have been charged HIGHER for years...especially with life insurance, and employer insurance...people just didn't know how much...if anything, forearmed is forearmed...time to make a choice.

Also, NO FINE...never was ONE...that was also clarified by SCOTUS...write it off on taxes and move along, like he rest of us independent business owners/contractors, like myself have been doing for YEARS; I've foregone employee health insurance for years and had my own without any issues, used my Schedule A to deduct...so it's really a non-issue...if anything, most won't have those issues; and it probably means less taxes to pay; still a benefit. :blink:

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Specializes in Going to Peds!.

Fine, penalty, tax... Whatever you want to call it.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
Fine, penalty, tax... Whatever you want to call it.

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I'm calling it what it is...a law...one I support.

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Specializes in Going to Peds!.

I'm calling it what it is...a law...one I support.

I'm not talking about the law itself. I'm talking about the assessed penalty one owes if choosing to remain uninsured in 2014. The penalty that gets higher each year.

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