But that's a story for another day. Rewarding criminals and people who have no will to be responsible for their lives is what is destroying our Country! If quitting smoking was easy, everyone would do it, right? It is all propaganda, Jack. 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. Welcome to CCI. If you choose to inhale smoke and you choose to eat fast food and unhealthy crap in vast quantities, then you choose to pay more for healthcare. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. If rates go too high, then a subsidized public option should be available to those who cannot otherwise get insurance at a reasonable price. Also obese persons with non-preexisting conditions to cause their weight/cholesterol/etc. This is just one more shameful proposal. Regeneron CEO & CSO: The Real Healthcare Problem Is Bigger Than You Think, Pfizer CEO: How The Biopharmaceutical Industry Creates Value (And Jobs) For The U.S. Economy, Gradual Progress In Precision Non-Oncology, But Challenges Persist, Amid Executive Shuffle, Anthem Looks To Expand Health Services, 'Forest Bathing' Really May Be Good For Health, Study Finds, Not Fun In The Sun: Summer Infections From Animals, Insurers To Trump: Suspending Payments For 'High-Need Patients' Roils Market, CDC: Over 200 Ill From Parasite Outbreak, Del Monte Recalls Vegetable Trays. Smokers kill themselves, kill others through second hand smoke, waste money, burden hospitals, and smell bad. I overheard a pharmaceutical rep entice him with all kinds of freebies to push her drugs. The increased tobacco excise taxes are also filling up government coffers to the tune of an estimated $8 billion each year. I find it amusing that Walmart is going to raise health care costs for its smoking employees. Probably, as long as it does not lead to a denial of care or rates so high that they go uninsured. I don't say this to punish smokers, I say it to get tobacco off the market so it will not impact the lives of today's children. Jack, let's do the math, if you smoke a pack a day that adds up to $2,190 (@$6.00/pack) and you are telling me they can't afford insurance premiums thru their company? There should be more places where only smokers can smoke freely. 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. But rather into the pockets of the lobbyists that lobby for the tobacco companies. Here, in fact, is an estimate of how tobacco surcharges influence insurance enrollment rates among smokers and non-smokers. Unlike smokers, I don't have a problem with overweight people but they are at greater risk for certain disorders and diseases. Many people do not belong to gyms and still find other ways to exercise. Jack Cafferty sounds off hourly on the Situation Room on the stories crossing his radar. If we start down this road than the next thing it would be, anyone with a history of cancer or any other known health problems in their genetic background, would have their Health Care canceled or would have to pay some ridiculous price. How about diabetics, cancer surviors, the list is endless. Why not make health insurance premiums lower for those that take steps to improve their health? Here's my question to you: Should smokers and fat people pay more for health care? Health insurers are divided in how they treat users of e-cigarettes, which deliver nicotine but are not a tobacco product. 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. Would he benefit enough from brain surgery? How many that do smoke get a physical on a yearl basis? Smokers should be allowed to make lifestyle choices free from coercion from employers, insurers, or the government. Yes, shame on us for enjoying our lives. Seems to make sense. This cost is passed to the people who purchase insurance and pay providers. The tobacco industry needs 5,000 new smokers every day to stay afloat. There is no reason why they can't quit smoking or lose weight. That is why we are $13 trillion in debt nobody wants to be responsible. If I wasn't so blessed, I couldn't afford medical insurance at all. Ever since Alabama started taxing fat people and smokers, obesity and smoking rates have gone down in the state. Links found on the CompareClub website do not necessarily imply an endorsement or recommendation of the information or views that are expressed by the external party. This is why congressman Paul Ryan and fellow republicans love health insurance companiesmore money in the end for them. Therefore, they cost LESS than non-smokers who live longer and who will suffer other costly age-related diseases. But should smokers pay more for health insurance? Raise taxes on cigarettes and have that money go towards healthcare. And, oh well, that's on you for not following the medical instructions.So, I guess yes it should. We really need a complete national group single payer medical coverage for all. If more funds need to be collected for certain types of unhealthy behavior why not let the tobacco companies pick up the tab for smokers, fast food restaurants that don't serve healthy food (some do serve healthy food, like Qdoba) for the obese or have type 2 diabetes, if it is certain their condition is caused by unhealthy eating. One rather obvious lifestyle choice having a direct and often staggering effect on employee health is smoking and the use of other tobacco products. Smoking clearly impacts health care costs and may legitimately affect premium rates, but are there pitfalls and dangers in imposing premium differentials? Should Texas be allowed to secede from the union? If you have thyroid problemyou won't lose weight. 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. Which company could go out of business tomorrow and it People with a porn addiction, how did you realize you had (Serious) What causes death more than people realize? Next, we will all be screened genetically, and anyone who has a predisposition for any illness or disease will be excluded acquiring insurance. What do the smokers think? That is the right solution, not charging people more for health insurance because they have a problem. As for being overweight, it doesn't cost anything to walk either in the mornings or evenings, and staying away from the dingdongs and cheezypoofs might help as well. If Australia responded to popular demand and moved towards a risk-based system, smokers could find themselves facing higher premiums. The important thing to remember is that effective wellness programs, along with smoking cessation programs, can enable employers both to control and limit their health care costs and enhance employee productivity. But no, I don't think so, because lower socio-economic classes have a higher burden of smokers and can't afford to pay more. You will be charged Responsible people who exercise and try to enhance their health should have greatly discounted rates. With intense politicization of pediatric gender medicine, the U.S. needs a systematic review of the evidence for different care options. Differential premiums determined by health habits is currently prohibited in Australia, as its considered discriminatory. This is not about poor genes. The employer cant just hope the employee finds out about the wellness program either, Weston says. Employers cannot discriminate against smokers by asking them to pay more for their insurance unless the surcharge is part of a broader effort to help them quit, said Karen L. Handorf, a lawyer who specializes in employee benefits for Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll in Washington. I believe that working people wether smokers, fat, or just plain ill, should NOT be charged more for health insurance, while individuals that do not work at all get 100% coverage. Nonprofit hospitals increasingly rely on philanthropy to supplement decreasing clinical revenues and a decline in the growth of government research funding. Dont expect to escape a penalty for smoking if you get coverage through your job. If you have a poor driving record, drive a sports car, or live in a high-theft area, you're going to pay more for your car insurance than [] Should health care be a private enterprise? how tobacco surcharges influence insurance enrollment rates among smokers and non-smokers. Jack, that may be the dumbest question I've ever heard. 88% of smokers began smoking before age 18. This echoed the findings of a2012 survey of 1213 Australians,in which 73 per cent of respondents believedin the same principle. Find out more about life insurance for smokers here. 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. 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. Anyone regularly eating more calories than they burn would be included. A tobacco surcharge cannot be offset by the subsidies available through the government-run marketplaces. Last week, Dallas County in Texas joined the growing ranks of employers that charge employees who smoke a higher monthly health insurance premium than employees who don't light up. There should also be discounts for people who live an active life style, and take care of themselves in comparison to their age group! Or a family history of colon cancer? 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. Why not include illegal drug users and alcoholics. Hopefully these penalties will get these overindulgent people to quit their bad habits and lead healthier lives thus live longer. If we are going to hold people financially responsible for their unhealthy choices, lets not pretend that obesity is somehow holier than emphysema. Russian TV Touts a Big Victory in Ukraine. Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now. Is any one of us perfect. Think of the savings in paperwork. Health care costs more for them (even though both overeating and tobacco are addictoions when they started they knew the dangers). Yes, I think they should be part of any risk pool their state has. That's their problem! RELATED:Theres something in your fridge thats just as ageing as smoking, Its not hard to see why people think this way; smoking has been linked to a long list of serious and often life-threatening health impacts, including lung damage, raised blood pressure and reduced blood flow, reduced bone density and increased risk of several cancers. Use more, pay more. The financial products compared on this website do not necessarily compare all features that may be relevant to you. But I am willing to compromise. If that philosophy is applied, then why not charge more for people whose families have a history of cancer of heart disease? What is a qualifying life event for special enrollment? Health care? 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. When you quit smoking, you can effectively reverse some of its effects on your health. Although most states allow the surcharge to be up to 50 percent, its not happening, she says. Here is a question for you all? Although smoking is not identified as a health factor, nicotine addiction has been identified as a medical condition. Not surprisingly, implementing a differential does involve some risk. Secondly fat people don't stay fat because they are starving. Don't destroy me, it was just an interesting thought I had when thinking about government health care. Running and hiking require no money. Three steps ought to be taken. And also the health care system could be smokers already pay more in excise taxes than the social costs of their habits. yes. Though smoking is often seen as an adult issue, we should continue to support the many excellent anti-smoking campaigns and participate in research that helps us understand how to encourage adolescents that have started smoking to kick some butt. Critics worry these kinds of penalties will hurt poor people the most, since health care costs consume a bigger part of their income and they may not have as much access to gyms or fresh food. Raise health care I 've ever heard cigarettes and have that money go towards healthcare responsible their. 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