Obamacare Allows Steep Surcharge for Smokers (premium, suspect, insurance, companies)
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Didn't see this covered in a search of this forum, so I'll assume it is a new topic.
Millions of smokers could be priced out of health insurance because of tobacco penalties in President Obama’s health-care law, according to experts who are just now teasing out the potential impact of a little-noted provision in the massive legislation.
The Affordable Care Act allows health insurers to charge smokers buying individual policies up to 50 percent higher premiums starting Jan. 1, 2014.
For a 55-year-old smoker, the penalty could reach nearly $4,250 annually. A 60-year-old could wind up paying nearly $5,100 on top of premiums.
Haven't health insurance companies always had the ability to charge more for different health conditions?
Certainly, insurance companies base their rates on many different factors.
I don't know if penalizing them with money will change addictive behaviors... We have tried that in the past and it still hasn't worked... Obama smokes doesn't he? I wonder if someone asked if Obama was going to stop smoking with the new rules?
I just can't see tobacco merchants recording every transaction. How else can big government prove you are a smoker? Plead the fifth or remain nicotine free for a few days prior to testing.
I DK if this is true and the amounts are highly suspect. It sounds more like propaganda from the anti-obamacare folk.
Having said this, insurers charge smokers higher premiums on individual policies and have been doing so, for a long, long time.
While most group policies do not distinguish between smokers and non smokers, this too is changing. Some employers will not hire smokers to shave some points off the cost of group policies they subsidize. Other employers simply won't hire smokers or people with spouces who smoke, including if they only smoke on their own time. They test their employees and if tobacco is detected, it's pinkl slip time. Smokers are not a protected class.
Insurance companies have always had the ability, and used it, to charge smokers more. The ACA (according to the link) caps the increase at 50%. This is good thing for smokers. It protects them from even higher rates. The anti-Obama crowd is trying to twist it into something bad for smokers.
I just can't see tobacco merchants recording every transaction. How else can big government prove you are a smoker? Plead the fifth or remain nicotine free for a few days prior to testing.
Easy enough to test people for tobacco and nicotine. Some private employers do. Some private insurers do.
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