So yesterday, I made a convincing case that employees who smoke outside the workplace can’t be treated differently than your non-smokers. 

But what about your health insurance plans? Doesn’t the state law prohibit your plan from imposing higher premium costs on those smokers?

Well on first glance it appears yes.  The state law would seem to apply.

But, dig deeper (and without getting too technical) and you’ll understand that there is a federal law — ERISA — that trumps that state law when it comes to insurance plans. 

Indeed, back in 2006, the Office of Legislative Research (one of the underappreciated government offices) wrote a report that said exactly that:

You asked if Connecticut law prohibits insurers or employers from factoring in whether a person smokes when determining insurance premiums or employee contributions for health care benefits. …

Connecticut law prohibits employers from discriminating against any individual who smokes outside the workplace with respect to compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment (CGS § 31-40s). The Connecticut Department of Labor (DOL) interprets this law as not prohibiting an employer from having smokers contribute more toward health benefits than non-smokers due to preemption by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). To our knowledge, this issue has not been litigated in a Connecticut court. …

Since that time, the question remains undecided, but there is little reason to doubt the conclusion. Indeed, there’s much more to this area than a simple blog post can provide.  But employers who believe in healthy workplaces and want to keep their insurance premiums down do have a small arrow in their quiver to make it happen.