Thanks to Obamacare, smokers could be looking at paying 50% more for health insurance premiums. Many poor people smoke and may not be able to afford the increased premiums (which aren’t covered by the subsidies) so they could wind up dropping their insurance and paying the cheaper penalty until they get sick.
Millions of smokers could be priced out of health insurance because of tobacco penalties in President Barack 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 — “Obamacare” to its detractors — allows health insurers to charge smokers buying individual policies up to 50 percent higher premiums starting next Jan. 1.For a 55-year-old smoker, the penalty could reach nearly $4,250 a year. A 60-year-old could wind up paying nearly $5,100 on top of premiums.Younger smokers could be charged lower penalties under rules proposed last fall by the Obama administration. But older smokers could face a heavy hit on their household budgets at a time in life when smoking-related illnesses tend to emerge. (Read More)
There is no provision for insurance companies to raise premiums for alcoholics, drug abusers, the obese (whose healthcare costs are much higher than for smokers), the sexually promiscuous or any other people that have unhealthy lifestyles or habits.
Via Fox Nation
You may even have to register at the “Ministry of Silly Walks”
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This is such a silly article. Its basic logistics. If you smoke, you’re going to run into more health problems, so you should pay more. That’s just common sense.
You can drink, and not have it hurt your health at all. That’s just a fact. Hell, you can drink and have it HELP your heath (like red wine). Can you say the same about smoking? There’s absolutely no health benefit to it.
But, the biggest thing to remember is simple: Your argument is invalid. Just because there are other things which are more dangerous that SHOULD raise premiums doesn’t mean raising premiums for smokers is invalid. One does not invalidate the other. If anything, the argument is that these things SHOULD BE ADDED TO THE LIST.
If you drop a need for a luxury, you’re addicted to the luxury, and you need to reassess your life. Addiction IS about that. Turning a want into a need, so other needs are left unattended. Its disgraceful, and I have zero pity for those who do that. They need help.
Of course, you ignore the fact that there’s $0 copay for smoking cessation devices in most insurance plans now. But, lets just skip over that, shall we?
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.@lonelycon Now if smokers formed a PACk, they’d. . .consume it. #NeverMind
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Life insurance policies are already two-tier: Smokers pay higher premiums.
Auto insurance policies are even worse. There your premium is set by a complex formula that includes things that aren’t even under your control, like the rate of auto theft in your area. If your neighborhood used to have a low crime rate but now tha rate of auto theft is rising, your premium will be reset to be higher.
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Because insurance companies have charged smokers more, people can, and have for years, just lied about smoking. Unless they are chain smokers, they can often get away with it.
Makes me wonder sometimes if some of those folks who
suffer from ‘second hand smoke’ are or have been “closet smokers” who’ve never ‘fessed up because they’d have to pay more for coverage.
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[...] insurance and that 50% will not be calculated in the credit the government is suppose to give you. http://lonelyconservative.com/2013/0…-to-obamacare/ Reply With [...]
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