This is nothing but insurance companies ripping off ignorant consumers. You will be notified in advance of any changes in rate or terms. If I take up smoking or get fat, I'm applying for a government job. Why not address the problem which is "lack of health care" or "the gross expense of health care" rather than take a view that would increase the expense? Children and adolescents diagnosed with gender dysphoria receive radically different treatments depending on where they live. If you drive an expensive or exotic car you pay more for insurance. While the Affordable Care Act ends the era of denying people with pre-existing conditions access to health care, it allows insurance companies to charge tobacco users up to 50% more for their monthly premiums. Most insurance plans cover smoking-cessation programs. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Its also unclear what happens if you complete a required smoking cessation program at work but do not quit. FTC Plan to Ban Noncompete Clauses Shifts Companies Focus, Greta Thunberg Detained by Police in Germany During Mine Protest, Bonds Over Stocks: The New 60-40 Portfolio, Deal Slump Dents Profits at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Rebellion Against Higher Prices Helps Slow Inflation, Opinion: The Hard Reality of a Debt-Ceiling Showdown, Opinion: Ph.D. Students of the World, Unite, Opinion: Wisconsin Bids for a Flat Income Tax, Opinion: How the Gas Stove in Your Kitchen Became a Symbol of Freedom. For those of us who must struggle in our writing to convey with clarity the complicated ideas we are driven to share, Wills gift for off-the-cuff eloquence was awe-inspiring. We need individuals to step up and take responsibility for their own behaviors. Sometimes you need a kick in the pants to get going. Of those people, two thirds agreed that people who smoke should have to pay higher premiums than non-smokers. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Probably, as long as it does not lead to a denial of care or rates so high that they go uninsured. This is not like people with cancer, etc. Sitting behind a desk as an adult, or behind the computer as a child is our biggest problem. Everyone keeps complaining about the health care, but don't take efforts to eat correctly and they know they should! Running and hiking require no money. Or addicted to prescription medication? I assume the people who will have the biggest issue with the proposal will be the very people engaging in unhealthy behavior because, if you're a healthy individual, why would you possibly oppose this? What famous person essentially cancelled themselves Press J to jump to the feed. Check with a financial professional before making any decisions. Charging a higher premium for established smokers will either at best encourage people to stop smoking immediately in order to access health insurance or at worst deter smokers from signing up for health insurance in the first place. Lastly I don't want to hear about poor people being harmed by this. If they spend more for health insurance, maybe they won't have enough funds for cigarettes or junk food!! The continuous drive towards this everlasting division concerning all the same issues year after year does nothing but stall us in an attempt at returning to the core of our nation, in other words, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.". That translates into $1,250 per household, mostly in taxes and insurance premiums. Abstract. No you see the importance of everyone being required to have insurance, be it public or private. Charging smokers higher health insurance rates is popular and legal, but is it ethical? How about women that keep spitting out babies ? Hey don't we export cigarettes and fast food franchises Shhhh! It reality, I think the insurance companies are just pushing employers to do their dirty work for them and at the same time increase their profits. This post is nothing more than to anger people and get ratings. No Jack .That is not a solution.A better idea might be to stop the FDA from allowing food procesors from pouring high fructose corn syrup into everything we eat.First you fed us poison and then you blame us for being poisoned.You want less smokers ?stop all price supports to tobacco producers and cigarette companies.the price wil be out of reach. Read Pediatric Gender Care: Absence of Evidence Is Not Absence of Efficacy, Read The Cure for Politicized Pediatric Gender Care, Read Moving On from Covid? As for smokers, that is much more clear-cut and it would make sense to raise rates for those. Get fat on steroids from their asthama? They already spend more money, on cigs and food, than I do. After all, like the commercial states, who doesn't want 50% more cash! Differential premiums determined by health habits is currently prohibited in Australia, as its considered discriminatory. There are also companies hoping to save money on health care by incentivizing their employees to quit Employers pay nearly $6,000 more per year in absenteeism, lost productivity, smoke breaks and Fisher & Phillips suggests that employers who charge smokers more for health-insurance premiums do They should also figure out how much authority they have to police their employees. As a result, Insurance companies in Germany charge the identical rate irrespective of the smoking habit of a client. Since it would be impossible, and unfair, to have exepmtions for all the possiblities of lifestyle choice or legitimate medical neccessity, charging more for the obese is a tough call. Jack, that may be the dumbest question I've ever heard. Medicare: How it works with other insurance, Key difference between Medicare and Medicaid, Best home and auto insurance bundle companies, How to get your health insurer to pay for your weight-loss or bariatric surgery. By the 1980s, smokers were already paying more for life insurance than their nonsmoking counterparts. Yes. Smoking tobacco increases your risk of heart disease, lung disease, and other health problems. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. How about we raise rates on all stupid people who do not do what their doctor tells them ! Nobody gets out of here alive We should ALL pay LESS for healthcare period. We should tax people for smoking, not for receiving health insurance. It is a fact that if you leave an unhealthy lifestyle, your lifespan will be shorten and costlier. As a reformed smoker it was hard to quit, but I now save a ton of money by not smoking at 10 bucks a pack. You may change your billing preferences at any time in the Customer Center or call Tobacco use for this purpose is defined as any self-reported tobacco use four or more times a week within the past six months. States, however, can set their own rules to reduce or eliminate that surcharge, and 10 so far have chosen to do so. Health care costs of smoking are expensive and smoking is reduced more to motivational determinants than to biological factors; the essay, therefore, recommends that smokers pay for their own health costs. yu hve people tht are nt big n hve mre medical problems than them.as for smoker yu no they read the warning n America is stubborn abt taken advice. What are they planning for the medicaid system, smokers and fat individuals that receive public assistance and free insurance. Read Grateful Patient Fundraising: Ethically Problematic or Altruistic? When an uninsured smoker gets emergently sick, that means hospitals and clinicians dont get reimbursed, which forces them to pass those costs on to people with insurance. Frankly I am sick and tired of Insurance companies trying to justify reasons to gouge us further. Life insurance premiums are based on your health risk for insurance providers. What is a qualifying life event for special enrollment? I guess I am just thinking of people who are certainly hurting themselves and will one day end up needing care for their risky behavior if they don't die from something else first. If you don't follow their instructions, then your premiums should go way up. Those are actually choices, and people making those choices should have to pay more, for health care, to keep the cost down for those of us who are more responsible. Shame on you! However, this smoking surcharge makes the crucial assumption that continuing to smoke is a choice. A disproportionate number of tobacco users, particularly smokers, are racial minorities and come from low-income and less-educated households, according to the American Cancer Society. The penalty for smoking will depend on where you live or work. Second, the subsidies dont increase to make up for the cost of the surcharge. Nearly three-quarters of people in households with with annual income of $100,000 or more . Copyright 2023 Insure.com. Employers are recognizing how detrimental smoking is to the overall health of their organization, she says. How about smokers and fat people pay for their own health care? Smokers can abstain from smoking if they wish to. By some sort of body mass formula? smokers and overweight individuals (among many others) require more healthcare services and resources than healthy individuals. The opinions expressed here are those of the authors, not The Hastings Center. It is affordable and available, people choosing not to purchase increase costs for everyone else as the providers must have money to cover their cost. Jack.you've just described 50% of America !!! The reason? Shame on you Jack, shame on you ! For one its not any healthier for others that do not smoke with others that smoke around them, What good is paying health insurance, If your health is not on the healthy side. They're clearly reckless drivers and are more likely to get into injury accidents. The Insurance company shouldn't give you a hard time in achieving that goal either. At the same time, skinny non-smokers should pay half. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. These are things that people can control, and why anyone would choose to smoke in this day in age is beyond me. Of course anyone that eats fast food, or any fried or unhealthy food would need to pay more. There should also be discounts for people who live an active life style, and take care of themselves in comparison to their age group! why are "the poor" smoking anyway? They do not live as long and even getting treatment for those conditions is no fun. If smoking will not be banned, then double its price. Since fat people and smokers will die at an earlier age no need to pay more for insurance, since they wont be paying for it much longer. I should be paying the same rate for health insurance as a 21 year old! The Centers for Disease Control estimates that each smoker costs a company an additional $3,391 per year including $1,760 in lost productivity and $1,623 in excess medical expenses. Or. Only if drunks & drug addicts will pay more. Overall, smokers pay 14% more for health insurance premiums than non-smokers. The services have been available but no one took advantage. I think people are stressed out with todays world, They have/show no feelings for themselves. "Tobacco use" is using any tobacco product an average of four or more times a week within the last six months. Should smokers pay more for health insurance? In the case of weight gain I'm not so sure that can all be attributed to bad behavior. These people should absolutely pay more for their healthcare. The bottom line is when you combine these problems with the fact that we work too much as a society, and leave little time for physical activity and recreation , we have a big problem. Posted by Susan Gilbert at 09/19/2013 02:47:13 PM|. Insurance is collective protection against risk. It was MY CHOICE to go and buy cigarettes as it was my choice to quit. There are several acceptable terms such as overweight. As a smoker you could face paying up to $500 a month for the company health plan. However, there is a potential snowball effect that could wind up with young, healthy people paying peanuts, and elderly people being hit with huge bills for health cover. The under-25s are least likely to support the principle of solidarity in healthcare, with almost half saying leading an unhealthy lifestyle is grounds for higher health insurance premiums. There's my point. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. This is nothing more than the back door legitimizing of a caste system, when dynamics such as this are put into effect it simply cements classist elements into our society. It does not store any personal data. If they choose to continue these very destructive practices they have no one to blame but them selves! Let's give people who smoke free tobacco-company-paid health insurance. Yes. And we'd love to know where you're writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment. The CHIPHIT complex and the future of health care: Can we create a low-cost, high-quality system? If they are lazy and indulge themselves with bad food and refuse to change that! Jack, I'm glad you brought that up. Anti-cancer groups and the tobacco industry have effectively joined forces to prevent some of the new insurance exchanges from implementing a surcharge for smokers. However, if rates are too low they may not provide a sufficient financial incentive to stop smoking. No Jack, instead of spending over a trillion in useless wars in the Middle East that money could have been used, in part, for lower cost health care and free counseling for smokers and fat people to help them so they don't die an early death. Action that smokers and fat people take is costing Health Care. Customer Service. Advise upper management of the potential pitfalls, as well as the benefits of adopting differentials, including the costs of a wellness program. In the past few years, many employers have been trying to get workers to voluntarily improve their health to help bring down soaring insurance costs. It is only fair that those who have negative behavior pay more for their health care. But is this plan moral? So smokers seem to be an excellent target to help employers manage costs. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. What is a creepy fact about the human body? It's only logical, but in liberal politics logic doesn't prevail. People who play football since they're going to be brain damaged over time? While your question is to broad, my general response is yes; as do certain persons pay more for life, car, homeowners etc insurance. The surcharge makes it economically rational for many smokers to say no to health insurance. Futhermore, how can anyone say this would hurt poor folks when ciggarettes are $6 per pack, just 1 pack a day is $180 a month they could use for better food or a gym membership. Smoking clearly impacts health care costs and may legitimately affect premium rates, but are there pitfalls and dangers in imposing premium differentials? However, she says, as long as the program is correctly implemented and complies with federal and state laws, employers should have no concerns. What about people with children, or families in general? Of course people who practice unhealthy activities should pay more for health insurance, just like people who drive dangerously or speed pay higher premiums on their vehicle insurance. Where are the numbers to support that lifestyle behaviors are significant costs. Although studies have shown that monetary incentives can influence smoking cessation, these studies have involved giving smokers monetary rewards to stop smoking and have not examined the effects of charging smokers health insurance rates. What about those who use to be silm and later became FAT? I am a physician and behavioral scientist at Duke University. Sadly, yes ! Healthy foods cost two to three times as much. Some view them as equivalents of nicotine chewing gum or nicotine skin patches, and others see the product as another form of tobacco use, as life insurers do. Why should we pay for other people's liabilities? Fair is fair! As for a flat tax, I mean fat tax, ask New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Why would us healthier employees have to foot their hiking rate of insurance for them? Good luck in getting that bit of reality dealt with. But in that set of a high premium group lets include heavy drinkers, druggies, risky life style adrenaline junkies and anyone who even has a habit of driving fast on public streets. Just as your auto loan down payment and interest rate are computed by your credit, income, stability, etc which creates the exposure to the risk of loan default. Rewarding criminals and people who have no will to be responsible for their lives is what is destroying our Country! Yes, they should pay more. Jack Cafferty sounds off hourly on the Situation Room on the stories crossing his radar. I have no sympathy for them whatsoever. However, theres no evidence that higher health insurance premiums encourage people to quit, according to the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation aimed at improving the health care system. Smokers do not currently pay more for health insurance premiums, due to Australia's community-rated health insurance system. They will save a fortune if they quit buying cigarettes. Michelle, the former editorial director, insurance, at QuinStreet, is a writer, editor and expert on car insurance and personal finance. For example, a 40-year-old nonsmoking female and a 40-year-old smoking female would pay the same premium for the same policy. More profit. That one's a bit harder because while being overweight, such as gross obesity, is a health issue, being overweight is relative and doesn't have as close a correlative relationship to health as smoking does. Read Should Ethicists Be at the Table in Public Health Policy Deliberations? They USE MORE resources while alive. Already a member? This site uses cookies. Fat, smokers, too skinny, birth defects, pimples. everyone should pay more, right? This is simply the legitimizing, and establishing of a class system here in the U.S. via the Health Care system! How much do you think a video cassette player would sell for these days? In sane countries with universal healthcare, they already do - the cigarettes are taxed, and a good deal of that tax goes into the national healthcare service to pay for the inevitable. Therefore, they cost LESS than non-smokers who live longer and who will suffer other costly age-related diseases. Cigarettes, co-pays and junk food add up, and all these savings could give them (Smokers and Fat People) "healthier food" or that gym membership they want so bad. Jack, when we start down this road of charging people higher premiums based on the choices they make where does it end. People smoke and never get cancer, people who do not smoke and have cancer, over weight people may be due to other medical problems and they already have problems trying to get insurance. D) Is there any way to motivate self-control? That's why we have tobacco tax. 1 cause of preventable disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Why don't we just discriminate more, people who drink should pay more.It doesn't matter to the insurance companies as long as they get money. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. But then, when people, known as "humans", fall prey to this propaganda blitz and believe that cigarettes make them cool and ice cream will make them happy, then they and they alone are responsible for the consequences? "Fat" people. Then why shouldn't healthcare be based on fitness level? As the fight against tobacco continues to evolve, so should our policy ideas. Three steps ought to be taken. Van Baal and colleagues compared the lifetime health care costs of three groups: smokers, obese individuals, and healthy individuals. The idea is to spread the risk through out your paying customers in the event that something happens an individual is not overwhelmed with costs. The authors concluded thatreducing smoking and obesity will not save society health care costs. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Then, would not liquor users be the next target. I am sorry but if you are overweight or a tobacco user you are going to incur a greater risk and have a greater chance of needing insurance to cover costs. The key difference between life insurance for smokers and non-smokers is the likelihood of being accepted and the cost. But I am willing to compromise. I don't need or want Health Insurance. The ACA recognizes the increased costs associated with smoking employees by allowing insurers to raise smokers premiums up to 50 percent over those paid by non-smokers. Deborah Chollet, a senior fellow at Mathematica Policy Research in Washington, D.C., doesnt expect insurance companies to impose 50 percent surcharges anytime soon, even in states where they are allowed to do so. More importantly, for the purposes of this post, when surcharges arose in 2014, there was a pretty steep decline in the percent of smokers who purchased insurance. Doug. Sure. Since smokers tend to have significantly lower incomes than non-smokers, they could be especially vulnerable to increased health insurance costs. As we will see, too, the harmful effect of these behaviors are not just medically related. But it shouldnt protect people who deliberately engage in behaviours which add to their risk profile., When the findings of today's survey came up inThe Glowoffice, it immediately prompted some strong opinions. YES and I say that as an addicted smoker. A natural response . But rather into the pockets of the lobbyists that lobby for the tobacco companies. Responsible people who exercise and try to enhance their health should have greatly discounted rates. Or, in this case a kick in the wallet. Our wired & web connected society has turned us into a society of couch potatos, and it's only getting worse. Well, the creators of the Affordable Care Act (or the ACA, a.k.a. Or a family history of colon cancer? People have known for years that smoking causes a variety of health problems and, especially if these companies are offering programs to assist in quitting, there is no reason nowadays to still be partaking. 88% of smokers began smoking before age 18. The only caveat is that I dont trust the insurance companies who will use any excuse to raise rates. I would like to start this counter-debate by saying you see more drunk driving deaths than smoker deaths because news reporters report car accidents, not cancer Smoking increases health risks and should be banned in public places. Let's return to the days when we went to the doctor when we could afford it. Sure, as well as people with over active tyroids, and underactive thyroids, and those with ADHD, and those on high blood pressure medicine, and anyone with a pre-existing condition including acne, as some insurance companies rate it. Health insurers in Germany have conducted studies which have shown that smokers die younger than non-smokers. STAY CONNECTED WITH THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN HEALTH, TECHNOLOGY, AND ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS, Wall-Mart charges smokers more than any other company. Insurance comp. smokers get the ass end of every stick, even though people do way stupider things that risk their lives. Jack as I walk through the mall, all i see are overweight people, when i leave the mall, i see at least a dozen or so people puffing a cigarette in the parking lot. Image via iStock, Improved life expectancy. These folks just wants to get more money from other. Dont blame it on the sunshine, dont blame it on the moonlight, dont blame it on the good times, blame it on the Economy. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Our radiology departments answer was, Well, theres always the zoo.. Moreover, if smokers are charged higher rates, then other higher-risk groups should also be charged higher rates, since it would be unfair to single out smokers. There are several objections to this argument. Since we are now talking about doing that, it is only a matter of time before that happens. I also think tobacco should be taxed out of existence. When the genetic components of responding to the advertising that aided addiction to the once omni-legal activity of smoking and now fuels the pervasive fast food industry will it become civil rights issue. Penalties include higher insurance premiums and deductibles for those who aren't participating in the company's health programs and those engaged in risky health behavior, like smoking. The tobacco industry needs 5,000 new smokers every day to stay afloat. Seems to make sense. I'm one who believes those who are unhealthy should pay more. There is no reason why they can't quit smoking or lose weight. Of course, this is America, corporations are free to do anything they want and individuals pay all the freight. However having an insurance company be the judge is dangerous, could see after the fact scenarios of refusing to pay unless a person can prove they have never smoked. Jack, Your nonsmoking colleague might pay nothing. ABSOLUTELY! I actually fit into both of these catagories and I do agree that the charge should be more. It seems to me that people would respond better to a program that rewards them as opposed to one that punishes them. For your bank account? I also don't have an issue with taxing excessive drinkers either. This is kind of what private health insurance risk analysts do. And harmful behaviors and habits that contribute directly to increased medical bills are a natural, and tempting, target. Many Online Journal readers feel strongly that smokers should pay higher insurance premiums than their non-smoking co-workers, and some say penalizing smoking shouldn't stop at health insurance. No!! No. Its about personal choices. How will the fiscal cliff affect the way you handle your money. I don't have cancer. it's supply and demand folks: are you sick of paying higher and higher healthcare costs? Please see our FSG. Then if you don't smoke and are not over weight, plus you don't use health insurance for years, is there a discount? They are using 25% more insurance, they should be paying 25% more! If you use too much insulinyou'll gain weight (who ever you are). There is no question that smoking increases health risks and those who don't smoke shouldn't have to bear the burden of those who choose this insidiious habit. I'm glad that's being done, personally. If you start down that road, there's no stopping. Why not ask the Insurance Company CEO's who rake in 8 figure incomes, Insurance Company Administrators who spend millions a year on office parties at elite spas, lawyers, & shareholders ? I feel sorry for my fellow citizens who are not able to fight the system or extract themselves from it. Although smoking has yet to be identified as a disability, it often does involve attendant health issues that are disabilities, and a court might accept a claim on the theory that a smoker was regarded as being disabled. You will be charged I don't think so. As a person who is living large, I can tell you that I don't have high blood pressure, I don't have diabetes, my knees and back are fine. In a way Jack they already do. Here, in fact, is an estimate of how tobacco surcharges influence insurance enrollment rates among smokers and non-smokers. People who drink too much alcohol? Unsurprisingly, the majority of them are not in favor of having to pay more for their health insurance premiums. What Scrub Color Should Surgeons Probably Avoid? Compensation may impact where the Sponsors appear on this website (including the order in which they appear). Experts say that smokers disproportionately have lower incomes, so that a premium surcharge will hit them especially hard. People should pay extra for these procliviites. And while we're at it let's throw in really tall people because you never see any really old really tall people around; and drivers too, because automobile accidents kill more people than just about anything else, don't they? No because they aren't going to lower the rates for those that aren't overweight and don't smoke..The rates are created for all by taking into consideration the overweight and the smokers..just like they take into consideration the chance of developing cancer.I grew up about the time a cure for polio was discoveredI don't remember the big refund check from the insurance companies when that threat was eliminated.Insurance companies are just looking to take in more bucks but those that aren't a problem will still pay the same high rates.
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