And also the health care system could be smokers already pay more in excise taxes than the social costs of their habits. You may opt-out by. You start slipping down a slippery slope when you single out select segments of the population. How would you feel about riding in a car that drives itself? Will they ask those with heart attacks, strokes, cancer, in the family history to pay more also, maybe they should ask those who come up with these senseless ideas to pay more just for being stupid. If people can't be motivated to change their bad habits on their own, maybe higher health care costs will make them think twice about their choices. This is not about poor genes. Survey: Bullying on the Rise; Gen Z Least Likely to Report Misconduct, Study: Majority of Big Canadian Companies Tie Executive Compensation to ESG Metrics, Toxic Environment: When Workplace Behavior Is Problematic But Not Illegal, A Prescriptive Guide to Third-Party Risk Management, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Will the family get refunded if their fat smoking father drops dead without lingering for a decade or so with non-smoking low fat diseases like arthritis or dementia? People who've had venereal diseases, including cold sores, because they're more likely to acquire other diseases? If a union is in the picture, a differential would probably be a mandatory subject of bargaining. Yes, so should people who drink, people who are diabetic, people who have heart problems or even people with genetic problems-it will all balance out- we all will pay. If they spend more for health insurance, maybe they won't have enough funds for cigarettes or junk food!! Should smokers pay more for health insurance? They should only be charged more if 1) their habits actually incur measurably more cost, and 2) those individuals without the same habits get a discount. Jeopardy without a thermos of hot tea or a pack of splints, or boaters who cross the Pacific and get tossed overboard, should be charged more as well, including for the helicopters required to haul their sick bodies home. Quitting is hard, and you don't have to go it alone. So smokers seem to be an excellent target to help employers manage costs. Come on, being fat and being a smoker are BOTH addictions and choices, just like a drug addict. 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. So why should healthy people pay subsidize healthcare for unhealthy people? then we must determine just what obese means, and to whom. Our patient, weighing over 600 lbs., was above the weight limit of our hospital systems scanner tables and those of all the other major medical centers that we called in our large city. 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. It is an interesting thought about how that would implicate unhealthy people. Good question. To appreciate the solution, let me expand on the flaws in health insurance surcharges. Shame on you Jack, shame on you ! Let's return to the days when we went to the doctor when we could afford it. David B. Resnik, JD, Ph.D, is a bioethicist at the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences. And again if the Doctor says you need help in achieving your goal in health. If we are to receive adequate healthcare in this very backward country, we must rein the medical industry in tightly. Adult film star Ron Jeremy found unable to stand trial for rape No one should be able to tell an adult that she cant spend her hard-earned money on cigarettes. I am 54 but I am as healthy as a 21 year old! The CHIPHIT complex and the future of health care: Can we create a low-cost, high-quality system? That's the last thing they want. Many people do not belong to gyms and still find other ways to exercise. Hi Jack. Prior to joining QuinStreet, she reported and edited articles on technology, lifestyle, education and government for magazines, websites and major newspapers, including the New York Daily News. I overheard a pharmaceutical rep entice him with all kinds of freebies to push her drugs. Should smokers and fat people pay more for health care? First, the surcharge makes insurance more expensive, meaning it is harder for people to afford. Get free updates delivered free to your inbox. Most insurance plans cover smoking-cessation programs. Carol Duh-Leong is a medical student who blogs atProgress Notes. Multiply the number of packs you smoke in a week by the cost of cigarettes to find out how much you can save by not smoking. 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. The Insurance company shouldn't give you a hard time in achieving that goal either. 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. Kytles practice also involves drafting affirmative action plans and he has represented employers in hundreds of affirmative action audits conducted by the OFCCP. Heres how to protect yourself from its side-effects. Grateful patient fundraising programs, as they are known, employ a strategy in which hospitals seek donations from satisfied patients, often using public data to identify those who are wealthy and requiring their physicians to discuss giving opportunities with them. All this can be prevented, there is no excuse whatsoever for smoking and for remaining overweight and not actively trying to change. When they get their habits under control then their premiums could also be lowered. However, until we do the same for alcoholics and drug users, it is unconstitutional. If you're quitting smoking, consider annual renewable term life If you smoke tobacco or cannabis, vape, or chew tobacco, you will pay more for life insurance. 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. D) Is there any way to motivate self-control? Sure, many would prefer to have juice and bottled water insetad of soda, organic fruits & vegetables instead of cookies and chips, and gym memberships instead of sitting behind a TV or video game console but many just cannot afford it. Maybe we can answer this by expanding your question: what if a person is an alcoholic? But non-smokers have rights, too. Besides they can take the money they save by adopting healthy habits and have more spending money. It's a habit that's known to have a detrimental impact on your health. Yes, Jack. Compare Club does not compare all products in the market. 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. Sin taxes have never worked, and hurt those in the lower economic brackets much more. 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. Private health insurance wasn't created so everyone could get healthy it is a financial product in the United States. If we begin to separate people because of diseases, it might begin to punish people with costly diseases which they could not have prevented like Type one diabetes, Parkinson's, most cancers etc. Why should I continue to support bad behavior by paying for it. The tobacco industry needs 5,000 new smokers every day to stay afloat. Where are the numbers to support that lifestyle behaviors are significant costs. RELATED:Sitting is the new smoking. Experts say that smokers disproportionately have lower incomes, so that a premium surcharge will hit them especially hard. 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. I think people are stressed out with todays world, They have/show no feelings for themselves. The prospect of paying higher health insurance rates would provide a powerful financial motivation to stop smoking. These of course probably don't have insurance at all. Join 150,000+ subscribers Get KevinMD's most popular stories. Healthy foods cost two to three times as much. "These things in no way compare to the unnecessarily harmful effects of smoking on both the people smoking and the people around them who are also forced to suck up their toxic fumes," colleague #1 responds. How do I sign up for Medicare when I turn 65? Cigarette smokers have rights. Information found on the CompareClub website is for general purposes only. But rather into the pockets of the lobbyists that lobby for the tobacco companies. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. By the 1980s, smokers were already paying more for life insurance than their nonsmoking counterparts. Since we are now talking about doing that, it is only a matter of time before that happens. Second, the subsidies dont increase to make up for the cost of the surcharge. Information about your device and internet connection, like your IP address, Browsing and search activity while using Yahoo websites and apps. r/AskReddit is the place to ask and answer thought-provoking questions. And, life insurance, too. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. How does primary and secondary insurance work? 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. Smoking? Of course anyone that eats fast food, or any fried or unhealthy food would need to pay more. 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. 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. The same goes for obesity. cy from arlington, va. As a former smoker I would absolutely not blame anybody else (Government, insurance companies, etc.) In a recent issue of Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics, 12 physicians discuss their experiences with grateful patient fundraising and take up legal and ethical issues. Instead, the GOP would send them straight to the great State of Texas and have them serve 30 days in the electric chair (that is, unless you are a millionaire or John Boehner). Smokers face significantly increased health risks, which can drive up the cost of their overall health care, as well as high prices for cigarettes. 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. Jack, So if you can get people to quit these expensive habits how in the hell are you hurting them? I realize this is a difficult area to try to control as some activites are based on genetic predisposition, etc. Why should I pay for other peoples bad choices. Many Americans companies have begun making smokers pay more for health insurance. If they participate and make improvements then there is no impact. Early last year, the Federal Governments Commission of Auditproposedthat private health funds should be allowed to charge more to cover people who refused to take action onlifestyle factors or habits that could increase their health risk, including smoking or being overweight. There is no reason why they can't quit smoking or lose weight. No JackThat`s just wrong!!!! 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. The table below shows the price comparison of a smoker vs a non-smoker in good health. Smokers can abstain from smoking if they wish to. Here are a few tips for quitting smoking: Find your why. There, I saw firsthand the incredibly high rate of smoking in a population that was mostly hidden from me in my everyday life. After all, those type of people are much more likely to run up high doctor bills. If they choose to continue these very destructive practices they have no one to blame but them selves! No, it's just impractical. I think our government should ban smoking. Higher insurance premiums price smokers out of insurance markets. This post is nothing more than to anger people and get ratings. Another thing to keep in mind: although smoking does not affect your health insurance premiums at the moment, it is possible that the rules could change in future. And while you're at it tax them MORE too..its only fair. Or a family history of colon cancer? So lets use the corporations who stretch across the states to implement this and maybe we can finally get our overweight problem under control. This should have been in effect years ago. METALWORKER in La Salle, IL. Some Liberal Democrat(s) in Washington stated that it's discriminasting against fat people and smokers, that's why we all have to pay. Studies have shown thatmonetary incentivescan significantly increase smoking cessation. An alternative might be to give those of us non-smokers and who are not obese a discount. I am a smoker for 14 years now and my answer to the question is; YES! A person who has been smoking two packs a day for 30 years has a significantly greater chance of developing lung cancer than someone who has been smoking only a few cigarettes a week for a few years. I'm one who believes those who are unhealthy should pay more. 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 GOP would never accept a such an un-American thing as a tax increase on these people. Absolutely! These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Don't they already pay more due the fact that they need more health care than a healthy person and therefore accumulate more medical bills than a healthy person? thank Jack. These people should absolutely pay more for their healthcare. (post continues after gallery.). Policies that are adopted should be fair and not undermine smokers access to health care. No. Poor people can afford this expensive health hazard luxury? Community rating is there to protect people who, through no fault of their own, through things they cant control like their age, that theyre not penalised, NIB Managing Director Mark Fitzgibbonsaid at the time. This site uses cookies. If you have a certain prescription, or just have a test ordered from your doctors, the insurance companies will raise the premiums once a year regardless of whether this condition has been confirmed or not. Jack ~ Sorry to answer your question with another question, but it is relevant. Obviously they have higher medical costs associated with the ills that come with smoking. I Jack gain weight if I try to live on 500, 1000, or even 1500 calories a day. 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. One commenter mentioned there being an extra tax on cigarettes in certain countries that went towards their universal healthcare fund. In fact, smokers hurt non-smokers by racking up healthcare expenses brought on by the hazards of their habit. This stuff is expensive, and I personally don't want to pay for John Doe's chemotherapy when he has smoked for 50 years. Ms Ley also dismissed claims obese people and smokers could pay more for their private health insurance, but defended the government's right to ask "tough questions" about it given the private health insurance rebate cost it over $6 billion a year. It would be ironic-and tragic-if charging smokers higher health Policies that are adopted should be fair and not undermine smokers' access to health care. Yes! Should auto insurance favor safe drivers with discounts? Compensation may impact where the Sponsors appear on this website (including the order in which they appear). We could be next in line just so because we are short. For the same reason young boys pay more than girls for car insurance. The reason? Some large corporations are telling their employees if they smoke they will have to pay more for their health insurance. It is a shame that money has to be a motivator to incent someone to become healthy! For your family? Is any one of us perfect. Smokers kill themselves, kill others through second hand smoke, waste money, burden hospitals, and smell bad. The most obviou and clearest cases of physical abuse by a person on themselves should cost the perpetrator. How much is that costing us ? But that is private health-care, and we're talking about government health care(which I am not sure if I support or not). Penalize them for bad choices and their habits will change. 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. Can get people to quit these expensive habits how in the United.... Difficult area to try to control as some activites are based on genetic predisposition,.... 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Insurance than their nonsmoking counterparts a union is in the United States find other ways to exercise place!
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