Carle Foundation Worker Advances Health Plan Smoker Penalty Suit

Illinois health system Carle Foundation must face the bulk of a proposed class action challenging its practice of charging workers who smoke more money for their health-care coverage.

Carle may have operated an illegal employee wellness program by charging tobacco-using workers an extra $650 per year without giving them an opportunity to receive retroactive reimbursement of penalties already paid, Judge Colin S. Bruce of the US District Court for the Central District of Illinois said.

Federal law requires that workers be given an alternative standard allowing them to receive the “full reward” under the program, and that includes retroactive reimbursement, ...