Tobacco Premium - FAQs

Loyola University Chicago supports a culture of health and wellness, including promoting the university community to make healthy choices.

• The goal of the tobacco premium is to discourage the use of tobacco products, which are harmful to your health.
• Eliminating tobacco is a proactive way to help manage health care costs for everyone.
• A robust offering of tobacco cessation programs and cessation drugs support this health and wellness initiative.

Faculty and staff members who use tobacco products within the last three months, and are enrolled in Loyola's medical plan, will incur a $50 per month premium on your medical contributions.

• Premium pricing is deducted from your (bi-weekly or monthly) earnings.

All Faculty & Staff covered under Loyola University Chicago medical plans who are tobacco users.

Loyola University Chicago recognizes that quitting tobacco use can be a significant personal challenge and offers numerous resources to help you. For more information, visit the Smoking Cessation Resources webpage.

Each faculty and staff member enrolled in the Loyola Medical Plan will need to complete online annual Open Enrollment through Employee Self-Service each fall, to certify or re-certify tobacco use premium attestation for January 1 of the following year.

• This certification must be renewed each year during annual Open Enrollment in order to avoid the medical premium. To report a change in tobacco usage mid-year, please contact the Benefits Department directly via email at benefits@luc.edu.

A tobacco user is a person who has used tobacco in the past 3 months. Tobacco use applies to all types of tobacco products that are smoked (cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, pipes, electronic cigarettes, vaping products or hookah), applied to the gums (chewing tobacco, dip, and loose tobacco) and/or inhaled (snuff).

The tobacco premium is $50.00 per month (or $600.00 per year).

The following are considered tobacco products. If you use any of these products, you must certify as a tobacco‐user. Tobacco products include:

• Cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, pipes, chewing tobacco, snuff, dip, loose tobacco smoked via a pipe, hand rolled cigarettes, or hookah, electronic cigarettes, vaping products, and any other tobacco product - regardless of the frequency or method of use.

No. The tobacco premium ONLY applies to faculty and staff members who currently use tobacco products and are enrolled in a Loyola University medical plan on or after January 1, 2018.

The University is committed to the highest ethical and professional standards of conduct as an integral part of its mission, the promotion of learning. To achieve this goal, the University relies on Faculty and Staff members ethical behavior, honesty, integrity and good judgement. 

• We expect members of Loyola University Chicago to report honestly. 

Any false statement would be considered a violation of our Code of Conduct, and could lead to disciplinary action leading up to and including termination, at the sole discretion of Loyola University Chicago.  Additionally, the consequences of a false statement, if discovered, are that you would lose all university contribution to your health premium.

Yes. A list of prescription drugs (such as the nicotine patch or nicotine gum) covered by CVS Caremark are located on the CVS Caremark portal and are updated on a quarterly basis. Please visit CVS Caremark portal to create an account and access the most up to date information.

If you enroll in a Tobacco Cessation Program, complete the components of the program, and provide a certification of completion, you will be eligible for the lower non-tobacco premium beginning the first of the month following receipt of your notification. Please contact the Benefits Department upon completion of the cessation program.

If you become a tobacco user at any time during the year, you should notify Human Resources at benefits@luc.edu so the premium can be applied.