Non-smoker is frustrated with insurance company. What can I do?

I've just become eligible for insurance where I work. Today I found out that I will have to take a nicotine swab test and if it comes back positive my rates will be higher.
I DO NOT use tobacco. However, I live in a household in which someone smokes pretty heavily. I've been told that I will probably not pass the nicotine test because of this. I understand that second hand smoke is unhealthy for me, so I don't need a lecture. I'm very anti-smoking, but unfortunately, I'm stuck in my situation for now. I think it's absolutely horrible that an insurance company can penalize me for a behavior practiced by someone else. Is there anything I can do about this?

I should add that the insurance rep said today that if we are in a situation where we are regularly exposed to second hand smoke such as a family member, job, etc...that we will most likely test positive. She basically said it was just too bad for us and that we'll (the non-smokers exposed to smoke) have to pay the higher rate if the test is positive because we are tobacco "users" by way of exposure. That really bothers me...

The rep sounds like an idiot. They probably just said that because people who want to lie use it as an excuse all the time. They sound focused on quantity rather than quality. Smack them on the head for me.

I have never had a false positive with a nicotine test and I used to support other agents in an insurance brokerage house. Each year I was there, I oversaw roughly the same number of cases most agents see in their career.

If the mouth swab comes back positive (which is an archaic test), you should offer to do a urine test at your cost. This is a MUCH more accurate test and will actually reveal how much, if any, nicotine you have metabolized rather than how much nicotine is floating around in the air. You would probably have to pay for this simple test out of your pocket, but the long-term savings would almost certainly be worth it.

For right now, I wouldn't worry about it because it won't do any good.

Ask the insurance company about this issue.

Most drug screening tests have thresholds set high enough to preclude a "Positive" for a banned substance at a level normally associated with a situation such as yours. After 30+ years in the life and health insurance business, I have never had a false positive for nicotine for someone who is living in the same household with a smoker. I have friends who tested for nicotine where the husband smokes and the wife does not. She did not test positive.

If, for some reason, you do show positive on the swab, ask your emplyer if you can take a urine or blood test to prove you are not a smoker.

Good luck,

Grampy

great info grampy. also, most life insurance companies allow for smokers who have stopped smoking to apply for the non-smoker rate. usually after the policy has been in effect for at least 12 months. i had one life insurance company that only required the policyholder to sign an affidavit that he had quit smoking for at least 12 month.

yes, well, if you regularly ride in the car with a drunk driver, you're more likely to be in an accident, too.

Insurance companies play the odds. And living with a heavy smoker, drastically increases your chances for having smoking related issues. You think you should pay the same as someone who DOESN'T have those higher odds?

16 year old boys pay more for car insurance. People with nicotine in their system pay more for life insurance. Fat people pay more for health insurance. That's just the way it is.

Blood tests used to determine whether or not you are a smoker measure the levels of cotinine (a nicotine byproduct) in your blood. Insurers do not expect a zero result on the cotinine test, since you will measure even a small amount if you visit a smoke filled bar a few days prior to the blood draw.

There are thresholds of cotinine content developed to determine if you use tobacco, and they are sufficiently high that the difference between a smoker and one exposed to a smoker are quite evident.