Advocate Aurora Looks to Kill Health Plan Tobacco Penalty Suit

Advocate Aurora Health Inc. defended its practice of charging tobacco-using employees more for health coverage, saying the workers challenging the program have based their complaint on an “erroneous premise.”

Advocate allows workers who smoke to have the extra charges waived for the entire plan year by enrolling in a tobacco cessation program in January and completing it, the company said Monday in a motion to dismiss. This complies with the requirements of the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act, which doesn’t require health plans to retroactively reimburse “mid-year enrollees,” Advocate said.

The proposed class action, filed in September ...