Smoking City Employees To Pay More For Health Insurance
Follow KDKA-TV: Facebook | Twitter
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - City of Pittsburgh employees that smoke will soon be paying more for health insurance.
While lighting up initially is a choice, it quickly becomes an addiction with long-term medical problems.
"We're giving all the City of Pittsburgh employees the opportunity to live a healthier lifestyle," said Janet Manuel, City of Pittsburgh director of human resources.
In short, for city employees, give up smoking, or make an attempt to, or face a surcharge on your healthcare costs.
"The surcharge is $50 a month and it's taken out of each respective employees paycheck," said Manuel.
Smokers understand the logic.
"If you do risky behavior, you could cause more money to have to be paid out in health insurance," said city employee Henry Horn-Pyatt.
But they say risks are risks.
"Some people are hooked on sugary diets, which lead to bad health outcomes just like smoking leads to bad health outcomes," said Horn-Pyatt.
The surcharge also applies to those that use e-cigarettes, cigars, cigarettes and any other type of tobacco.