It concerns a team of office workers at a morally questionable company that performs brain surgery on employees to sever the consciousness of their work and personal lives. You may cancel your subscription at anytime by calling The increased tobacco excise taxes are also filling up government coffers to the tune of an estimated $8 billion each year. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. 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. Not surprisingly, implementing a differential does involve some risk. Anyone that drinks excessively. we should just make them pay more for their HEALTH care if they end up fat or smoke a pack This should have been in effect years ago. Smokers elect to smoke and know that they are harming themselves. Education is a better tactic by health care companies. By charging smokers higher health insurance rates, insurance companies can make people pay a price for the risks they take. The debate continues, because ultimately smoking is a voluntary act that undoubtedly affects individual health and, in turn, the public and private healthcare system. 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. thank Jack. 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. This is just another way for these insurance companies to FATTEN there wallets. Since smokers tend to have significantly lower incomes than non-smokers, they could be especially vulnerable to increased health insurance costs. Join 150,000+ subscribers Get KevinMD's most popular stories. Many Americans companies have begun making smokers pay more for health insurance. Insurance companies argue that its only fair to charge tobacco users more. Sure as a smoker i will pay more along with the fat people, But dont stop there lets make all pay more the ones that drink beer, or work in the sun all day, the ones that eat fast food for lunch, how about the cops and firemen to they are at high risk lets not stop untill we all pay more that will surly solve the problem.. You don't have to be rich to eat healthy, exercise, and give up smoking. The availability of products compared may change from time to time. 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. To be fair, policies adopted by employers or insurers would need to apply different rates to different smokers, depending on their individual risk. Why should I continue to support bad behavior by paying for it. "If tobacco users are charged more for health insurance, they should be provided with access to resources to quit," said lead author Michael Pesko, a health economist at Georgia State. Check with a financial professional before making any decisions. More profit. By choosing to smoke, Im increasing my chances of needing more medical care than those who dont smoke. is this what we want to teach our kids? If they are lazy and indulge themselves with bad food and refuse to change that! And the fat cat CEO's should go on a compensation diet so that more of the money they collect in premiums goes to heath care. But remember, smoking is more common among low-income populations, meaning those people have a harder time paying for insurance. 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. If we want smokers to reimburse the rest of us for the cost of their habit, we should stick with tobacco taxes, a policy that reduces smoking rates without having any direct effect on peoples decisions to purchase health insurance. Look, this isn't about alienating people or being mean for being mean's sake. When insurance companies price smokers out of their products, we all pay. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. 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. In The Cure for Politicized Pediatric Gender Care, Moti Gorin argues that a U.S.-based systematic review, conducted by a trusted major medical organization such as the National Institutes of Health or the National Academy of Medicine, is needed to develop consistent standards for pediatric gender care. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Healthy foods cost two to three times as much. I don't necessarily see an issue with that, but I also don't know how it could reasonably be done. We really need a complete national group single payer medical coverage for all. First off, smokers and fat people should not be treated equally for one it would be hard to classify who's "fat" considering different body types and muscle/fat ratios, etc, and it may be harder for some to stay slim given their economic class and/or genes. This practice may lead many people to forego health insurance even though they may have to pay a fine under the ACA. Do we want someone not going to the doctor for fear of their rates going up? 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. 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. 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. 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. Another tax on the poor and middle class in terms of a health insurance "surtax" will not fix the problem. We all know that if we do the right things (exercise, eat properly, stop smoking, drink in moderation and take medications to prevent disease from getting worse) we will all spend less on healthcare. 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. Why have we let our diseased health care system go untreated? Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. About the Author Then why shouldn't healthcare be based on fitness level? So it's additional incentive to stop smoking. As for smokers, that is much more clear-cut and it would make sense to raise rates for those. The odds. 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. Children and adolescents diagnosed with gender dysphoria receive radically different treatments depending on where they live. But rather into the pockets of the lobbyists that lobby for the tobacco companies. Jack, Where do you draw the line? 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. And people who drive more than others, people who work 3 jobs, people who don't work enough, people who drink too much, those that don't drink enough. This is a BETA experience. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. In most cases, employees could qualify by participating in a wellness program or a smoking cessation class. Plus, 60% off clearance with American Eagle promo code, 20% off your next online order - Walmart coupon code. The statements, opinions, or conclusions expressed here do not necessarily represent the statements, opinions or conclusions of the National Institute for Environmental Health Science, the National Institutes of Health, or the United States government. While it's true that smoking does cost the healthcare system a significant amount of money each year, it's also worth considering the extra taxes smokers are paying. Whether it's one day, one month, or one year, it's a cause for celebration. The arguement that it will hurt poor people doesn't hold any water. 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. I also don't have an issue with taxing excessive drinkers either. Self-efficacy is essential "Analysis shows . Some of these forgoers pay a penalty, but many others dont. Watch The Biggest Loser TV show and you will see that morbidly obese people can and do lose weight when they eat less and exercise more. Increasingly, companies are answering yes, and asking smokers to pay higher health insurance premiums than their non-smoking colleaguesor even not hiring them altogether. A solid majority 59 percent say that smokers should pay more for health insurance than nonsmokers. 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. The stubborn presence of tobacco use is frustrating considering the plethora of studies that link it to so many debilitating diseases. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Health care is a basic human right and that right is not negated by smoking or overeating. Health insurance companies are beginning to act more and more like banks. After all, those type of people are much more likely to run up high doctor bills. "let the Insurance companies charge anyone a penalty, Instead, outlaw tobacco and educate everyone on better diets. If youre coming to Australia on a temporary 600 visa, Overseas Visitor Health Cover (OVHC) is health insurance that cov From dentists to optometrists, its nice to build a relationship and enjoy that personal touch. These include, but are not limited to: man buns and beards; whether jam or cream goes first on a scone; the colour of The Dress; and smoking. Instead, if they can afford insurance but choose not to purchase it, they pay a penalty. 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. But is it worth the adde A guide to Overseas Health Cover (OVHC) Visa 600. Weston gives this example: Say, for instance, your health insurance benefits cost the company $1,000 a month. 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 higher insurance premiums gets there attention I am all for it. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. 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. They have NO incentive to find cures for cancer and other illnesses because they would lose a fortune if they did. Think of the savings in paperwork. Now that's the question you need to be asking. This is not like people with cancer, etc. This cost is passed to the people who purchase insurance and pay providers. Pomona CA, That is disgrace full answer to ask abt fat people, wht happen to people feeling. Find out more about how we use your information in our privacy policy and cookie policy. The ABS found that smoking causes 80% of lung cancer deaths and 20% of overall cancer deaths. Information found on the CompareClub website is for general purposes only. Jack, Smokers and fat people should pay more for insurance. But I don't think that's where the tax is going. 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. Yes, and those with alcohol related diseases. For example, a 40-year-old nonsmoking female and a 40-year-old smoking female would pay the same premium for the same policy. The average surcharge now is around 15 percent, she says. It is only fair that those who have negative behavior pay more for their health care. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Smoking-related illnesses cost the United States hundreds of billions of dollars a year in health care expenditures and lost productivity, and claim hundreds of thousands of lives. Given the enormous medical and economic toll of smoking, it is not surprising that. Cigarette smokers have rights. Generally speaking, healthcare costs are higher for smokers, and they often have higher rates of absences. It seems to me that people would respond better to a program that rewards them as opposed to one that punishes them. Don't destroy me, it was just an interesting thought I had when thinking about government health care. While smokers pay much higher premiums for life cover, they generally do not pay more for health cover. We all die, we will all make a claim upon society at some point. 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