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Tobacco User Status
Employees and their covered spouses/domestic partners who do not use tobacco products pay less for medical coverage. Each year, employees must verify their status as a non-tobacco user or tobacco user, as well as the status of their covered spouse/domestic partner. To be considered a non-tobacco user and pay lower, non-tobacco user rates under the Medical Plan for a plan year, you and/or your covered spouse/domestic partner must either:
  • Be tobacco-free for at least 12 months as of January 1 of that plan year; or
  • Complete an approved tobacco cessation program.
If you continue to use tobacco, you will need to complete the Quit for Life tobacco cessation program offered free of charge by JPMorgan Chase annually to continue to qualify for the lower, non-tobacco user rates. If you and/or your covered spouse/domestic partner meet the definition of a tobacco user but fail to declare your tobacco user status, you may be subject to disciplinary action.
Please Note: In your first calendar year of employment, you will be assigned non-tobacco user rates for you and your covered spouse's/domestic partner's coverage. This assignment applies even if you declare yourself and/or your covered spouse/domestic partner as tobacco users, because you may not have had an opportunity to complete a tobacco cessation course to qualify for the lower non-tobacco user rates. In subsequent years, however, you will be eligible for non-tobacco user rates only if you have been tobacco-free for 12 months (as of January 1) or if you complete the Quit for Life tobacco cessation program, as described in the preceding paragraph.
If you were hired on or after September 1, for the current plan year and in the next plan year, you will be assigned non-tobacco user rates for you and your covered spouse's/domestic partner's coverage even if you declare yourself and/or your covered spouse/domestic partner as a tobacco user. This assignment applies because you may not have had an opportunity to complete a tobacco cessation program to qualify for the lower non-tobacco user rates.
You'll receive more information about the opportunity to update your tobacco user status during each Annual Benefits Enrollment.
For more information on the Tobacco Cessation Program, go to My Health.
How Tobacco User Is Defined
Under the JPMorgan Chase Medical Plan, a "tobacco user" (for a plan year) is any person who has used any type of tobacco products (for example, cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, snuff, or a pipe), regardless of the frequency or location (this includes daily, occasionally, socially, at-home only, etc.) in the 12 months preceding January 1 of the plan year.