Smokers' surcharge for health insurance

Post by **R00k** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 9:18 pm

plained wrote:i think theres a danger of your smoke getting wet

wet fags

Post by **andyman** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 10:52 pm

They should do that for caffeine too then

Post by **R00k** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 11:00 pm

And a number of other things.

Post by **Dr_Watson** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 2:42 am

sucks to be you... i havn't had health insurance at all for > 2 years.

Post by **Haystacker17** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 2:45 am

axbaby wrote:oh common now.

next it's

a:if obese we will charge 50 dollars
b: if you don't signify your are not fat we will assume your fat

smoking is bad and causes cancer granted but so do many of your own bad habits cause you harm.

if it starts here where will it end

i bet more people die from drinking, lazy and eating junk then smoking

and im betting you would be right!

Post by **Scarface** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 2:55 am

Don't smoke then.

Post by **Haystacker17** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 3:00 am

Scarface wrote:Don't smoke then.

if you smoke you have to pay more because it puts you at risk of cancer etc

is like saying...

if you have sex you have to pay more because your putting yourself in risk of getting a sexualy transmitted disease.

Edit: or even better "if you work you have to pay more because.... your under more stress and that can effect your health"

Post by **Scarface** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 3:04 am

I know what it means, and I'm still saying, Don't smoke.

Post by **Fender** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 11:52 am

I'm all for it. Smoking and obesity are the root cause of a majority of our health care costs in this country. Fuck you if you smoke or are fat. Pay for your own addictions, don't expect me to do so.

Post by **Jackal** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 12:12 pm

If it bothers you so much why don't you just quit smoking?

Post by **R00k** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 1:35 pm

Fender wrote:I'm all for it. Smoking and obesity are the root cause of a majority of our health care costs in this country. Fuck you if you smoke or are fat. Pay for your own addictions, don't expect me to do so.

Fuck you, I've helped pay for all your medical bills. Did you pay for 100% of the expenses when your child was born or any time you've been sick? Do you think there is a magic little money fountain at BlueCrossBlueShield headquarters where they get the cash to pay for all the good people's bills, and the baddies like me are taking your part of it to subsidize their habits?

For the financial burden to be fair, insurance companies should say that any medical expense incurred from a person's own abusive habits will mostly be paid for out of the person's pocket. Offer help to quit smoking, and if I don't want to quit, then I can pay for the repercussions myself. Problem solved.

Post by **R00k** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 1:40 pm

Jackal wrote:If it bothers you so much why don't you just quit smoking?

Because I'm weak.

I quit once for about 4 months. I don't know why I ever picked them up again. The times I've tried to quit since then have been horribly unsuccessful.

I'll quit eventually as long as I keep trying - I already smoke a lot less than I used to.

But even if I quit and became a 'former smoker' I would still have a problem with charges like this.

Post by **Jackal** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 1:40 pm

Cry about it. If you want to throw yourself into a more expensive healthcare bracket because of your lifestyle then you should pay more. You have a choice here.

Post by **R00k** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 1:41 pm

I do have a choice. I'm not paying it. They can try to take me to court for it, or they can refuse me service later if I have lung cancer.

And as I said, it's not like I refuse to quit smoking, it's just been difficult.

Post by **werldhed** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 1:47 pm

Why not switch insurance companies?

Post by **shadd_** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 1:54 pm

some people are really shortsighted here. first it's smoking, next you'll be charged more for every pound overweight you are. then it will be alcohol. may as well be like china and start limiting the amount of time you can spend online. can't be healthy spending hours a day on the interent.

what the hell, your kids play sports? i'm not paying for any injuries they get. you should be charged $50 more a month for that.

etc, etc... society today, bleh. too many people whining about what other people are doing. fuck-off and mind your own business.

Post by **R00k** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 2:19 pm

werldhed wrote:Why not switch insurance companies?

This is the only insurance my company offers.

Post by **Fender** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 2:53 pm

werldhed wrote:Why not switch insurance companies?

Not really possible for most people in America. Now if health insurance premiums were tax deductible then people might actually have a choice and there would be competition in the marketplace which would benefit everyone, but no... we can't have that.

Post by **Ryoki** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 3:34 pm

shadd_ wrote:some people are really shortsighted here. first it's smoking, next you'll be charged more for every pound overweight you are. then it will be alcohol. may as well be like china and start limiting the amount of time you can spend online. can't be healthy spending hours a day on the interent.

what the hell, your kids play sports? i'm not paying for any injuries they get. you should be charged $50 more a month for that.

This is the issue. :icon14:

I too am surprised at the 'just stop smoking then' reactions by some otherwise so sensible people.

Post by **Foo** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 3:34 pm

R00k wrote:I'll quit eventually as long as I keep trying - I already smoke a lot less than I used to.

I know I'm preaching, but from knowing a lot of smokers and ex smokers:

There really is no effect in trying to give up, you either decide to stop and quit instantly

or

you struggle and fail continuously for the rest of your life until something causes you to make the decision mentioned above.

I'm sure you can imagine what the event is which causes many people to take the decision.

Post by **R00k** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 3:57 pm

Yes, you're preaching, but for the most part you're right.

The time I did quit for quite a while, I had drank and smoked way too much the night before. The next day I was so hungover I didn't even want a cigarette. I went all day without smoking, so when I got up the following day, I just decided, fuck that, I'm finally done with these things. I had become so vehement about quitting that I didn't even experience any withdrawal or craving for the next several days - or at least, if I did I didn't notice them.

Unfortunately I went outside with a buddy at work one day when I was stressed out, and 3 days later I bought my first pack again.

I've been trying to build up that mental aversion to smoking again, but I just can't ever seem to want it badly enough anymore. I will try to quit, but after a few days I will talk myself into smoking again.

So you can preach if you want to. I've heard all the cold, hard "this is how it's gonna be" pep-talks before. Ultimately, until I can convince myself that it's something I really want to do, and get that "fuck it, I'm done" attitude back again, it's going to be an uphill battle. I try to quit occasionally. One of these days I'll get pissed enough to convince myself I really don't need them any more.

The hardest part about it, is that I really love to smoke. I love it.

Post by **Hannibal** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 3:59 pm

Ohhh Nicotine, thou art a harsh mistress!

Post by **R00k** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 4:02 pm

You've been watching too much Jon Stewart.

Post by **Geebs** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 7:19 pm

R00k wrote:3) I am going to be charged $50 a month for a legal addiction I have, when someone who has been in and out of rehab for illegal addictions, which are arguably much more dangerous to your health, will be paying less for health insurance than I do.

How many junkies do you know with health insurance? Anyway, they're already paying extra for the Hep C and HIV

What most smokers think is that they'll just get lung cancer and pop off in 6 months. Actually, it's just as likely that you'll get emphysema, and need frequent hospital admissions for exacerbations; plus home oxygen is very expensive. Frankly, the insurance companies are better off with smokers off their books.

Post by **R00k** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 7:34 pm

Geebs wrote:How many junkies do you know with health insurance?

A lot. Have you ever worked any low wage jobs, like factory/production/shipping/manufacturing jobs? You'd be amazed at how many junkies can keep a low-paying job while half-assed working to support their drug binges.

Geebs wrote:Anyway, they're already paying extra for the Hep C and HIV

A small minority of drug addictions involve needles.

Geebs wrote:What most smokers think is that they'll just get lung cancer and pop off in 6 months. Actually, it's just as likely that you'll get emphysema, and need frequent hospital admissions for exacerbations; plus home oxygen is very expensive. Frankly, the insurance companies are better off with smokers off their books.

I imagine I would agree with that - that the insurance companies would be better off without a lot of them. But do you think we should start penalizing people who make other lifestyle choices which have potential long-term health risks? There is no way they would do this for obese people - that would open litigation and a can of worms that they wouldn't want to bother with.
Maybe once obesity is demonized to the point that everyone believes fat people are costing them money personally, there will be negligible resistance and they can get away with it.

I'm sure they could also charge homosexuals extra for being at high-risk of STDs couldn't they?

Smokers' surcharge for health insurance

Re: Smokers' surcharge for health insurance

Re: Smokers' surcharge for health insurance