will they do the same for overweight employees too?
as if I chose to get diabetes ?
Agreed. I have no problem with charging premiums for smokers, as long as they are allowed to charge premiums for other risk takers (motorcyclists not wearing helmets, overweight, drivers distracted by cell phone use, etc...)
What about homosexual employees and promiscuous heterosexual employees who have lifestyles with higher health risk factors than chaste non married persons or faithful married persons?
How much more will they have to pay if they are gay?
The whole insurance game is based on risks. If I get auto insurance and have tickets for reckless driving on my driving record - I will pay higher premiums. If my home is old and has bad wiring - I will pay higher homeowners insurance.
It is all about risk. If I go out and buy health/major medical insurance on my own (outside of my employer’s plan), my weight DOES affect the premiums charged. No doubt that my excess weight makes am a bigger risk (no pun intended) to the insurance company.
Smoking (regardless of your beliefs on the subject) DOES present a high risk to your health. I have no problem with a surcharge if you smoke (just like there is for being overweight in private insurance).
And yes, I realize that part of the purpose of group health insurance is to help spread the risk. But how much should be carried by those who live a more healthy lifestyle?
If the employees who smoke don’t like the surcharge - they are free to obtain private insurance...
Why not go after fat people? Being fat carries a higher risk of possible health problems later, right?. Genetically overweight? Unless you can prove it's genetic, you'll probably get penalized for laziness and overeating. Next they'll demand to come to your home and inspect it for anything they consider to be unsafe conditions. We all know more accidents occur in the home, right?. Are you doing your thirty-minute walk at least three times a week? No? Ooohh, too much junk food in your pantry? That rug there, tripping hazard. How often do you climb that ladder over there? Commute to work on a motorcycle? Risky choice. Choose instead to drive a large carbon footprint? Ah, now you are risking the health of others, and drowning polar bears as well. Own a gun?
The place where I work has banned smoking anywhere on their (substantially large) company-managed property, including the parking lots and your car. You can't walk all the way out to the parking lot and smoke in your own car. (I don't smoke). Then there is the other do-gooder feel-good nonsense called "Behavior Based Assessment" where someone follows you around observing your normal daily routine and taking notes. Then they sit you down and tell you what you should do to 'reduce your health risks' (you looked over your shoulder and greeted someone while walking down the hall today. Tsk tsk, you could've walked into a wall). And now that we've made your work environment "safe" (all done under the excuse of creating a better work environment, reducing health costs and increasing the quality of life for our employees) let's discuss your hobbies...
If we never make an insurance claim and stay healthy, we just keep paying those ever-increasing insurance premiums for nothing in return, and the insurance companies get to keep the money, all the while penalizing us for engaging in what they determine to be risky behavior.
They may consider it "risky behavior", but I call it "enjoying life". I would really like all the meddlers out there to stop "helping" me, and just leave me the hell alone. Whatever happened to "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness"? Life itself is a risk, and in the end, we're still going to die anyway.
< /rant>
I think everyone should pay for the true cost of their insurance. If you have greater risk factors like smoking or being fat then your insurance should be higher. Its no different than charging more for car insurance when the driver has a bunch of DUI’s or speeding insurance.
don't forget the stressed out workers, they are higher risk for MI's.
It will be expanded to overweight employees, diabetic employees, employees with high blood pressure, employees with high cholesterol etc. What you won’t see is the rates rise for employees who have unprotected sex, engage in homosexual behaviors, ride motorcycles and bikes without helmets, drink in excess, take drugs, are hooked on prescription drugs etc. Only the politically incorrect behaviors will be penalized like eating a twinkie. Behaviors that are practiced by the Hollywood elite and Washington politicians will never be demonized. Unless they are overweight.
My husband’s company already has this in practice. Every year the employees and their spouses have to go in to be weighed, have their BMI taken, cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar levels measured. We have a $5000 deductible per individual per year as it is. This doesn’t include prescription and doctor visit co-pays. We pay a little over $300 a month for the insurance which I do not think is high but we have to pay alot out of pocket so those of us who have health issues have large medical expenses.
Depending on what category you end up with after the yearly visit the company will pitch in a bit towards the deductible. They even have you fill out a lengthy questionnaire each year asking questions like how often you eat out, what you eat, how often you go to the doctor, whether you’ve had a mammogram, colon exam, pap smear etc. It’s very personal and intrusive IMO so we lie. LOL! There isn’t a category for eating at McDonalds but ordering a salad.
This year I refused to go to the cattle call. We always end up in the lowest category anyway so there isn’t anything they can do to penalize us more. They had my cholesterol so off the mark last year that I sent in the test results from my own doctor and complained. I guess the company was able to save some money on premiums this way but it is not very pleasant for the employees.
For years we paid insurance premiums for people who were in and out of alcohol and drug treatment facilities but there isn’t a check box anywhere on the form asking about drug or alcohol abuse, nor was there a checkbox for homosexuals that put themselves at risk for AIDS.
I expect things to get alot worse as they are working to demonize people who are overweight just as they did the smokers. You can see it in the headlines. You can’t pick up a magazine without running into articles about obesity or diet and exercise. My personal favorite was the study about how if you want to stay thin you shouldn’t have fat friends. Having fat friends can make you fat.
If we end up with national health care things will get alot worse. When fat people feel about as low as a child molester their work will be done. Poke them with a stick. They’re done. But there will not be one peep about not insuring homosexuals or making them pay higher premiums for their risky behavior and resulting high health care costs.