Smoker Flag Collection

How did you decide to handle this.... I could see a simple ESS page with a bookmark. You could just have one bookmark called "annual enrollment" that opens a group of bookmarks like "Dependents", "Tobacco Acknowledgement", "Benefit Elections", "Beneficiaries". (The page would not be that difficult to code.)

So I really should have answered this better last night (my brain was broken.) It is a bit funny to me because we collect this but when I read "capture smoker flags" I just thought of the field on HR11. The field would be an option but for us we wanted to charge a different premium for associates and spouses so that it would be $10 additional for each.

A little more complete answer:
Yes, you could create a page and have the smoker flag field on HR11 updated but it only provides you with a Y, N or NA selection. This is not helpful if you want to know about the spouse as well. So what did we do?... We have our tobacco premium setup as any other benefit plans. We setup 3 plans for tobacco user, non tobacco user, not in health plan... We called the benefit group Tobacco Premium on BS03 and then we have a few options to pick from if they say tobacco user. That allows for a deduction to be setup automatically. If you want I can run the BN215 for the plans?

Question.. This year my company wants to have a different set up premiums for smokers. Currently we have one health plan, four tiers.. ee only, ee+child(ren), ee+spouse, and family all pay same premium. For 2015, I'd like the same four tiers, but add smoker rates. We do not use flex credits, anyone know the best way to handle this?

Are you asking how you would set it up for benefits or ESS?

You can use the smoker flag on HR11 and have an employee group for smokers and one for non smokers. Then have contribution tabs with each group and the associated rates.

We customized ESS to capture this when they begin opend enrollment.

I think in ESS 10 - it is there. Not sure what apps level you need to be using, though. We are on apps 901 and eSS 9.

We are going to capture smokers using an outside online form that our IT will create. So I don't need to capture an answer. I just need to know the best way to setup deductions. So once open enrollment is closed (using ESS) I will be able to audit the smokers to make sure they enrolled in the smoker's rate plan.

Then seperate employee groups for the different groups rates should work for you.

So I would need to build two (one for smoker - one for non smoker) medical, two dental, two vision etc.. and based their eligibility on each group correct?

2 contribution groups not 2 plans.

So what you are saying is I can keep my eligibility group as it is but on BN17 and then use the smoker group there on "employee group"?

Margie,
I kept the eligibility group on BN15 as is, added smoker group on contributuion tab -bn15, when I used my test employee to enroll via ESS - it stated employee had more the one premium record and would not allow me to go forward. Am I missing something ?

I think it is BN18. You also want to make sure if you add new subgroups for contrictuions that you make sure they remain in the overall eligible group on the BN15 eligible tab.

did you exclude the smoker status from the original group and update your changed group via HR155? I would run the HR155 by group name only. If you run it for all changed groups, it may run a very long time.

Ok. Let me throw this out there...

I'm now being told that if you are smoker and you stop smoking w/in a plan year then you can move to the lower premium.

Wouldn't it be easier to just add a deduction via PR like a "sur charge" then to start creating all these groups to manage? At any given point an employee can go from a smoker rate to a non-smoker rate. And all I would have to do is stop the PR deduction - sur charge

That would be up to you. However, when you change the flag via personnel action, the groups will change. If you have your benefit change rules set up, the employees premium will change. You have true benefit history and cost.

Ok, thanks for your imput. Great Advice!