A report out today underscores the growing practice among employer-sponsored health benefits providers and the for-profit insurance industry of charging higher premiums to smokers and the obese. While this seems to make sense on its face – that people with unhealthy lifestyles should pay more into the system as they are likely to be needing to take more out of it – this blogger worries that the unregulated, non-standardized practices could open up many Americans to unfair and even abusive relationships with their health insurers and/or their employers. Read the article here for details and then sound off in the comments on whether you think this idea is disturbing or imaginitive. A report out today underscores the growing practice among employer-sponsored health benefits providers and the for-profit insurance industry of charging higher premiums to smokers and the obese. While this seems to make sense on its face – that people with unhealthy lifestyles should pay more into the system as they are likely to be needing to take more out of it – this blogger worries that the unregulated, non-standardized practices could open up many Americans to unfair and even abusive relationships with their health insurers and/or their employers. Read the article here for details and then sound off in the comments on whether you think this idea is disturbing or imaginitive. 2 Responses to “Charging Smokers and Obese More for Health Insurance”
Leave a Reply
Sometimes, it’s not our fault to become more fat (there are people who suffer an illness and become in this state) or just do a “give up smoking”, the inhuman iniciative of chargin on fat and smokers people, should not be followed.
The best way to make sure that the insurance policy does not cost too much more than a non-smoker’s policy is to quit smoking. Quitting smoking is easier said than done, but it can and has been done by thousands of people across the country. Also know that an overweight smoker will have a higher life insurance premium than a smoker who is at normal body weight. Along the same lines, a smoker who purchases a life insurance policy at the age of 30 will pay much less than a smoker who purchases their policy when they hit the age of 50 because they are closing in on 60, which is a median age for the death of smokers.