[9YearLurker]

If I understand correctly, the government is only putting an upper limit on how much more insurance companies can charge. I’d have the government out of it and let insurance companies charge whatever they want. If they want to charge more because the costs are so much more, then fine. If they don’t, because they want to attract the large smoker market, then that’s fine too.

But surely risk-based pricing is central to any genuine ‘insurance’ market.

[hinckley buzzard]

This is a political act, not based on medicine or "risk." An abundance of research has shown for years that smokers, by dying an average of 15-20 years early, cost the healthcare system significantly less over their lifespan than nonsmokers.