Option Period is just around the corner, and if you are enrolled in the HealthChoice High or Basic Plan and wish to remain enrolled for 2016, you need to complete the online tobacco-free Attestation for Plan Year 2016. The Attestation can be found on the HealthChoice website at www.sib.ok.gov.

 

For current employees, the deadline to complete the Attestation is Nov. 13, 2015. For former employees, COBRA participants, and surviving dependents, the deadline is Dec. 7, 2015.

 

The Attestation is waived for the first year of enrollment in the High or Basic plan but is required each year thereafter. If you are in the process of quitting tobacco use, you must be tobacco-free for 90 days prior to the deadline to attest to being tobacco-free.

 

If you cannot complete the Attestation because you or your covered adult dependents are not tobacco-free, you can still qualify for the High or Basic Plan if you complete one of the following Reasonable Alternatives:

• Show proof of an attempt to quit using tobacco by enrolling in the quit tobacco program through the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline and Alere Wellbeing AND complete three coaching calls by the deadline; or
• Provide a letter from your doctor by the deadline indicating it is not medically advisable for you or your covered dependents to quit tobacco.

If you do not complete the Attestation or a Reasonable Alternative, effective Jan. 1, 2016, you will automatically be enrolled in the HealthChoice High Alternative or Basic Alternative Plan, and your annual deductible will be $250 higher.