Tobacco Free for 12 Months or More? Let Us Know during Fall Open Enrollment!

Flash forward to October 18, 2019, right in the middle of this fall’s Employee Benefits Open Enrollment. You have thought it over and decided you are happy with your benefit plans and will not be making any changes. And, since you attested to your tobacco-use status last year, you don’t need to again, right?

Wrong.

As part of the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Wellness Initiatives program, as an MCPS employee covered by an MCPS medical insurance plan with CareFirst or Kaiser Permanente, you must attest each fall during Open Enrollment to whether or not you (and your spouse if you are married) will be tobacco free throughout the current calendar year. That means if you or your spouse use tobacco in 2019 or do not attest to you both being tobacco free throughout the 12 months prior to January 1, 2020, your contribution to your health insurance (medical, prescription, dental, and vision plans) will include a 25 percent surcharge on the total cost of the health insurance, effective January 1, 2020.

Plan participants who falsely attest to being tobacco free throughout the 12 months prior to January 1 will be assessed a $2,500 penalty, to be collected by payroll deduction. The online enrollment form will include a reminder about the penalty.

To make your tobacco-use attestation for 2020, sign in to the online Benefits Enrollment System via Employee Self-Service during this fall’s Open Enrollment, to be held October 7–November 1, 2019. Then, when you reach the Tobacco Attestation screen, select the statement that reflects your and your spouse’s tobacco-use status. If you are not making changes to your benefits and are not enrolling in a flexible spending account, you will be able to attest by logging in to the stand-alone tobacco attestation screen via Employee Self-Service.