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. Kytlehas extensive experience in client counseling, including matters involving employment practices, employee discipline, and wage and hour matters. The benchmark for all insurance underwriting is computed by an exposure to risk formula. Good Question! Wal-Mart, which insures more than 1 million people, is one such company. Or addicted to prescription medication? Establishing a compliant wellness program with a smoking cessation program and alternative mechanisms for some smokers, are key components of any decision to impose a differential. 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. Let's take smokers. Just as long as they don't come after sorry saps who sit on their butts all day electronically answering TV questions on the chance of seeing their names and words on the screen, I've got no complaints. YES! That makes them more expensive, and gives their users more of a reasons to quit. For individual health plans the kind you buy on your own the Affordable Care Act lets insurance companies charge 50 percent higher premiums for smokers than nonsmokers. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Reuters reports a growing number of companies are raising health care costs for so-called unhealthy employees. States, however, can set their own rules to reduce or eliminate that surcharge, and 10 so far have chosen to do so. For the same reason young boys pay more than girls for car insurance. smokers and overweight individuals (among many others) require more healthcare services and resources than healthy individuals. We have been paying more for our health care for several years because we smoke. Responsible people who exercise and try to enhance their health should have greatly discounted rates. There, I saw firsthand the incredibly high rate of smoking in a population that was mostly hidden from me in my everyday life. However, I don't think there should be a set fee. Last month, I rotated in the Bronx at a federally qualified health center. Yes. There's more complex social issues at play for these health issues. What a concept. Smoking is the No. That's why we have tobacco tax. Absolutely they should. 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. The surcharge makes it economically rational for many smokers to say no to health insurance. Although my company does not provide anything to assist me with these items, there is plenty of free and low cost assistance on both items. Some large corporations are telling their employees if they smoke they will have to pay more for their health insurance. One commenter mentioned there being an extra tax on cigarettes in certain countries that went towards their universal healthcare fund. Do we want someone not going to the doctor for fear of their rates going up? As we will see, too, the harmful effect of these behaviors are not just medically related. In a society where brand marketing has glorified unhealthy habits including smoking, video games and fast food over the years, it seems as a society we are struggling to correct these mistakes. People that are overweight also are electing to be overweight. Use whatever they have on hand as weights. So lets use the corporations who stretch across the states to implement this and maybe we can finally get our overweight problem under control. They've introduced weight loss programs or classes to help people stop smoking. And its not guarenteed that all smokers will burden the health care system. C) Is a longer and improved life not a good motivation? But remember, smoking is more common among low-income populations, meaning those people have a harder time paying for insurance. Jack Cafferty sounds off hourly on the Situation Room on the stories crossing his radar. But is it worth the adde A guide to Overseas Health Cover (OVHC) Visa 600. Instead of punishing people, why not reward them? Sure, why not, soon we will be charge for the air we breath, for eating too much, for raising your voice, for drive around and maybe for having lots of kids like china, I don't see why not, in a bad economy, we always have room for a new law, you know, we you're you're down, that is when you get attacked. The fact is we can all blame genetics for one thing or the other. Those that drink alcohol excessively?, those that engage in unprotected sex?, abuse prescricption drugs and painkillers? New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. Specifically, they shouldnt have to pay to subsidize the healthcare costs of people who choose to smoke. Yes, Jack, I think the insurance for smokers should be more expensive. After a string of violent crimes involving mentally ill people who are homeless, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced a plan for police and emergency medical workers to involuntarily remove people with severe mental illness from the streets and bring them to hospitals for psychiatric evaluation. As a former smoker I would absolutely not blame anybody else (Government, insurance companies, etc.) Anyone that does any dangerous activities, also. They should foot the bill for the fat and un-healthy. 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. Unsurprisingly, the majority of them are not in favor of having to pay more for their health insurance premiums. I am a physician and behavioral scientist at Duke University. You start slipping down a slippery slope when you single out select segments of the population. Oh cool! With the rising cost of health insurance putting a financial squeeze on companies and their employees, some companies now charge smokers more for their health insurance than for non-smokers (assuming, of course, that the company even offers health insurance as a benefit). does this. The fact of the matter is that these people are just enablers. The idea is also dead wrong. Which Studies Will be Practice Changing in Metastatic Breast Cancer? RELATED:The surprising reason why more women are smoking than men. Why would anybody else have to pay for my poor choices? Pepperell, MA. Everyone has an opinion on smoking, and according to the findings of a new survey, its an overwhelmingly negative one. "Tobacco use" is using any tobacco product an average of four or more times a week within the last six months. Healing hearts: the power of authentic connection in medicine [PODCAST], How to recognize and stop gaslighting in your relationships, Saying goodbye: the tragic impact of COVID-19 on families, A couples journey with a rare neurodegenerative disorder, The importance of a clear contract with your defense counsel in medical malpractice cases, Finding purpose: How physicians can craft meaningful careers in medicine [PODCAST]. Or somewhat young in age and more prone to colds than older folks? Just because someone is living large doesn't mean that it is by choice nor unhealthy. Why should we pay pay for others' poor choices? If they are lazy and indulge themselves with bad food and refuse to change that! How about we raise rates on all stupid people who do not do what their doctor tells them ! You get what you reward! To be fair, policies adopted by employers or insurers would need to apply different rates to different smokers, depending on their individual risk. Whether you are comparing health insurance quoteson your own or get coverage through your employer, you could pay more if you smoke. Jack, the answer is simple. All Rights Reserved. Sadly in America we have far more unhealthy people than healthy so this will probably be resisted and some groups will get involved and say it's discrimination. 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. 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. Jack: Discrimination is against the law. That means they have to go to the local charity hospital for treatment for care. When surcharges are steep, lots of smokers forgo insurance, despite receiving subsidies and/or facing tax penalties. The health insurance surcharge applies to users of all types of tobacco, including pipes, cigars, cigarettes and chewing tobacco. The company dropped it due to lack of interest. The idea that poor people will be hurt by this is ridiculous. Why not include illegal drug users and alcoholics. By the 1980s, smokers were already paying more for life insurance than their nonsmoking counterparts. These unhealthy choices in life ( yes, being fat is a choicenot a disease) deserve consequences. This is provocatively simplistic, betrays the lack of decency befouling this country, and represents why government can't leave corporations to run health care. The increased tobacco excise taxes are also filling up government coffers to the tune of an estimated $8 billion each year. Really do you really think the insurance companies will stop charging more and chose one of us over the other? I guess intellectual consistency isn't our strong suit. Obviously they use more health care resources than a single employee. Cigarette smokers have rights. Should fat people and smokers pay more for healthcare insurance? It always seems people don't do something until it hits their pocketbook. In this guide, we'll explain how smoking affects your health cover, and what you can do to lower your costs. This stuff is expensive, and I personally don't want to pay for John Doe's chemotherapy when he has smoked for 50 years. They are considered high risks. If you are in a dangerous occupation either you or your employer gets a larger bill. He or she can suggest a range of resources that can help you as you cut smoking out of your life. In the whole debate about rising health care costs we have been avoiding the issue of personal responsibility yes people who make an effort to live a healthy life should be rewarded with lower insurace premiums. Not because I think your wrong, but because it doesn't make sense to me. Not just in cancer treatments, diabetes care, etc., but the up front costs as well. There is no excuse other than they lack the will to eat less. Health care costs more for them (even though both overeating and tobacco are addictoions when they started they knew the dangers). It says smokers consume about 25% more health care services than nonsmokers. But I am willing to compromise. What do people claim they do but in reality they dont? is this what we want to teach our kids? Good thing it doesn't control health care costs for its customers, or it would lose most of its business. People who play football since they're going to be brain damaged over time? Shame on you! Sure why not? Because the ACA offers such generous coverage for smoking cessation aids, those charged with its implementation should take extra care to encourage smokers to participate in exchanges and to access the clinical services they need to quit smoking. Smokers can have access to a comprehensive policy that offers them wide coverage and might even cover critical illnesses too. Hey don't we export cigarettes and fast food franchises Shhhh! The explanation for this is simply that smokers are more likely to develop health concerns in the future, and therefore represent a greater risk for insurance companies. Proponents for smokers also argue that as the less affluent, less educated are more likely to smoke and to not participate in smoke cessation programs, imposing a differential has a disproportionate adverse impact, which may amount to racial or national origin discrimination. It's not about health, it's about money. Is that what we want for healthcare? Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now. Unlike smokers, I don't have a problem with overweight people but they are at greater risk for certain disorders and diseases. 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. While legal concerns exist, there are compelling reasons to implement a differential for smokers. Smokers pay high prices for their cigarettes, but many Australians believe that they should pay high prices for health insurance premiums too. cy from arlington, va. for charging me more for healthcare. Again explain to me why this is a bad thing. Penalize them for bad choices and their habits will change. Doug. No subscription fees, no paywalls. Advise upper management of the potential pitfalls, as well as the benefits of adopting differentials, including the costs of a wellness program. Without a doubt they should be paying more. Yes. Absolutely! Check with a financial professional before making any decisions. A person with emphsema is a tremendous cost to the health care system and it is primarily caused by smoking. Clearly, more research is needed on the relationship between financial incentives and smoking cessation. Should fertile women have to pay more for health insurance than women who can't reproduce? 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. Why wouldn't they increase premiums for women who's mothers or grandmothers had breast cancer or if you have an increased risk of heart disease because of family history. That's up from 19% this year and only 8% in 2009. Are we going to ask them to shell out for my extra expenses? That goes against everything the Grand Old Party stands for. People that are overweight also are electing to be overweight companies are health... 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