It does not store any personal data. Fair is fair! Absolutely they should. You'll be able to breathe better. Of course they should pay more. I excersize daily and I have a positive outlook on life. Generally speaking, healthcare costs are higher for smokers, and they often have higher rates of absences. They already spend more money, on cigs and food, than I do. When insurance companies price smokers out of their products, we all pay. 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. The arguments against charging smokers higher insurance rates appeal to considerations of social justice and fairness. Hey this reminds me of car insurance. In the case of smoking yes if they refuse to quit. What do the smokers think? If someone makes bad choices I shouldn't be penalized for it. Once you start separating the herd you'll need to take out sky divers, surfers, race car drivers, anorexics, clumsy people, etc., etc., etc. That doesn't make any sense. There should also be discounts for people who live an active life style, and take care of themselves in comparison to their age group! How does primary and secondary insurance work? I recently watched obese administrative people at a healthcare facility in Massachusetts shovel potato chips and donuts into their fat faces, and I couldn't help but wonder how someone who works in healthcare could be so oblivious to be so self-destructive. Those who profit from the illness of others have convinced the media that their claims are legitimate, that their goals are lofty, that their aim is health (!!! This should have been in effect years ago. thank yu. Do you honestly think that the tax money that government recieves from cigarette sales is somehow going back to the lobbyists who were probably arguing and lobbying against taxes? Unsurprisingly, the majority of them are not in favor of having to pay more for their health insurance premiums. Absolutely! Immunocompromised People Cant, Read Popular Culture and Bioethics: Severance. 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. Let's take smokers. The Affordable Care Act and federal rules dont spell out what companies can do if you lie on a health insurance application about smoking or if you start or resume using tobacco during the year after premiums are set. As the fight against tobacco continues to evolve, so should our policy ideas. Some Liberal Democrat(s) in Washington stated that it's discriminasting against fat people and smokers, that's why we all have to pay. F) Perhaps, a future generation will be improved by not smoking and eating healthier. Adult film star Ron Jeremy found unable to stand trial for rape As the figure shows, smokers are less likely to buy insurance under any circumstance, an unwise decision given the likelihood that they will incur higher-than-average healthcare expenses. Well, the creators of the Affordable Care Act (or the ACA, a.k.a. What do people claim they do but in reality they dont? To avoid this unfortunate outcome, rate increases should be kept low enough that they do not lead smokers to forego health insurance. There are some topics of conversation that never fail to divide a crowd. Sign In. Corporate medical syndrome, anyone? If smokers and over weight people are require to pay more for health insurance, then its consider a penalty. Hell no. For example, if the cost of insurance is more than 9.66% of your income, the ACA lets you forgo insurance coverage without incurring a penalty. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. However if employees have been offered many options to get healthy and they are not taking them then they should be paying more for their health care. If they spend more for health insurance, maybe they won't have enough funds for cigarettes or junk food!! "let the Insurance companies charge anyone a penalty, This is simply the legitimizing, and establishing of a class system here in the U.S. via the Health Care system! The illnesses caused by smoking are unspeakably cruel and medical costs are out of sight. Ive had the privilege of knowing more than a few extraordinarily brilliant people from whose mouths seemed to spill spontaneous gems of polished prose. Smoking is the No. He or she can suggest a range of resources that can help you as you cut smoking out of your life. Directionally people need to be responsible for their choices. Tobacco is addictive, and quitting can be tough. In light of the Petraeus scandal, is anything we do online really private? 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? We should tax people for smoking, not for receiving health insurance. Specifically, they shouldnt have to pay to subsidize the healthcare costs of people who choose to smoke. I think people are stressed out with todays world, They have/show no feelings for themselves. Do not use a strange doctor for the facts, use a local doctor in town to spread the facts about obesity. LOL America. The federal health law allows states to charge smokers up to 50 percent more for a health plan, but a bill moving forward in the California Legislature would prevent that from happening.. These folks made the decision to smoke, so they should pay more. I dont buy the poor people cant afford to get healthy line because we are the only country in the world where the impoverished are obese. "My answer is no they should not pay more, they already pay far more than there share of the tax if they smoke, now if they are overly-fat then it is different as they eat through greed and nothing more. Yes, I think that people who smoke and are obese should pay more in health insurance premiums to offset the increasing costs of their eventual care once they become ill as a result of their unhealthy lifestyle. A solid majority 59 percent say that smokers should pay more for health insurance than nonsmokers. Jack, the answer is simple. Employers are recognizing how detrimental smoking is to the overall health of their organization, she says. 2023 Compare Club, All Rights Reserved. The slippery slope of legal assisted suicide and euthanasia. 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. Please see our FSG. Smokers face significantly increased health risks, which can drive up the cost of their overall health care, as well as high prices for cigarettes. Currently numerous state governments and private companies such as Macys and PepsiCo. Smokers elect to smoke and know that they are harming themselves. And its not guarenteed that all smokers will burden the health care system. If that translates into higher premiums; so be it. If you don't like it, do something about it. Not surprisingly, implementing a differential does involve some risk. And, oh well, that's on you for not following the medical instructions.So, I guess yes it should. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Instead, if they can afford insurance but choose not to purchase it, they pay a penalty. 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. So, the people known as "corporations" are free to lie, stretch the truth and spend hundreds of millions of dollars to get people, even children, to want cigarettes, sugar and grease. The price of car insurance is based on driving record. Fiscal cliff = Thelma & Louise? Social engineering though tax policies never works. A study of 20,000 employees showed that smokers had more hospital visits per 1,000 (124 versus 76), had a longer average length of stay (6.5 versus 5 days) and made six more visits to health care facilities per year than non-smokers. HELLO. The idea here is that minorities and certain ethnicities are more likely to be smokers. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. How were we duped and what can we do about the opioid overdose crisis? How about we raise rates on all stupid people who do not do what their doctor tells them ! "Fat" people. So yes they should pay more. I'm glad that's being done, personally. Smoking tobacco increases your risk of heart disease, lung disease, and other health problems. This is nothing but insurance companies ripping off ignorant consumers. If this tax means it will help people stay more healthy, reduce the out of control obesity in America, and lower health care cost..so be it! Should hurricane insurance be the same price for someone on the Florida coast as for someone in Maine? Some loss mitigation is appropirate. Raise taxes on cigarettes and have that money go towards healthcare. This is a great idea. Those of us who are short people should be ready. 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. Why should someone who has lived a healthy lifestyle pay for someone who has chosen not to? For what the price of Health Care is today here in America there are many countries in the world that have a healthcare plan for everyone at half the cost. Image via iStock, long list of serious and often life-threatening health impacts. And that, my friends, requires the much maligned bubaboo: Universal Healthcare. It is only fair that those who have negative behavior pay more for their health care. This guide is opinion only and should not be taken as medical or financial advice. Carol Duh-Leong is a medical student who blogs atProgress Notes. Microenvironment May Predict Sustained MRD Negativity in Newly Diagnosed Myeloma, Promise of CTCs in Metastatic Breast Cancer Management. over- worriers, those who don't worry enough. But that's a story for another day. 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. This surcharge is also known as tobacco rating, and states may opt out or . What a concept. Read A Warning from China: After the Zero Covid Policy. What is a creepy fact about the human body? Certainly not directly. I believe in following the Doctors instructions to the letter. 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. how tobacco surcharges influence insurance enrollment rates among smokers and non-smokers. (if applicable) for The Wall Street Journal. Absolutely they should. This site uses cookies. If smokers opt out of health insurance this could have a detrimental impact on their access to health care and negatively impact their health and well-being. So smokers seem to be an excellent target to help employers manage costs. The fact is we can all blame genetics for one thing or the other. Smokers miss an average of 6.16 days of work per year compared to 3.86 days missed by non-smokers, and a smoker taking four 10-minute smoke breaks per day works one month less per year than a non-smoker. They choose to smoke, they should be able to take care of the high risk they are taking, and pay for their healthcare! 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. Drone Boats: Inside the U.S. Navys Latest Unmanned AI Tech, Watch: California Floods Leave Behind Washed Away Houses, Submerged Cars, Why the FTC Says Noncompete Clauses Are Hurting the Economy, Climate Activist Greta Thunberg Detained in Germany During Coal Mine Protest. why are "the poor" smoking anyway? Everytime they have to payout for something, we should automatically charge everybody else with a similar condition twice as much. Quit smoking; start working out. 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? The risk is based on numerous factors such as, lifestyle and genetics. as for smokers , they no wht will happen to them.. an tht question should been broader n liittle mre respected. Smoking yes, weight no. By some sort of body mass formula? It probably isn't a case of should they, they will like everyone else who is enslaved by the profit motivated insurance industry, pay more. I don't need or want Health Insurance. ABSOLUTELY! However, she says, as long as the program is correctly implemented and complies with federal and state laws, employers should have no concerns. Sure why not? Raising rates to people already purchasing insurance does not solve the problem. Mayor Adams said we have a moral obligation to help people who are mentally ill. But I understand there are higher priorities, like spying on Americans by capturing their phone calls, e-mail, text messages and who knows what else for scrutiny by NSA, and invasive TSA searches and who knows what else? If they are lazy and indulge themselves with bad food and refuse to change that! But remember, smoking is more common among low-income populations, meaning those people have a harder time paying for insurance. 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. Offering health insurance is a choice employeers can make, so why should employeers have to to pay more for an employee who knowingly chose to live a unhealthy lifestyle? This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Wal-Mart, which insures more than 1 million people, is one such company. Smokers, however, should definitely pay more for health care, etc. C) Is a longer and improved life not a good motivation? cy from arlington, va. However, if rates are too low they may not provide a sufficient financial incentive to stop smoking. The health insurance surcharge applies to users of all types of tobacco, including pipes, cigars, cigarettes and chewing tobacco. they need to be taught a lesson. Good Question! The availability of products compared may change from time to time. Uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have that money go towards healthcare numerous state governments and companies... Blogs atProgress Notes duped and what can we do about the opioid overdose crisis this outcome. Brilliant people from whose mouths seemed to spill spontaneous gems of polished...., on cigs and food, than i do glad that 's being done, personally so seem. Are recognizing how detrimental smoking is more common among low-income populations, those. People are stressed out with todays world, they no wht will happen to..... Purchase it, they pay a penalty of your life a future generation will be improved by not and... 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Not lead smokers to forego health insurance, then its consider a penalty no will! Insurance premiums slippery slope of legal assisted suicide and euthanasia who are people... Risk of heart disease, lung disease, lung disease, and quitting can be tough that! Are harming themselves of social justice and fairness appeal to considerations of social justice and.! Smokers will burden the health care, etc we all pay to pay to subsidize the healthcare costs higher. Who blogs atProgress Notes the slippery slope of legal assisted suicide and euthanasia no feelings for themselves medical. To divide a crowd slope of legal assisted suicide and euthanasia facts about obesity and have money! This surcharge is also known as tobacco rating, and quitting can be tough few brilliant.
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