Penalty could keep smokers out of health overhaul

["W"]

I dont smoke nor will I ever have Gov Health Ins. but this is profiling at its best

WASHINGTON (AP) — 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.
Workers covered on the job would be able to avoid tobacco penalties by joining smoking cessation programs, because employer plans operate under different rules. But experts say that option is not guaranteed to smokers trying to purchase coverage individually.
Nearly one of every five U.S. adults smokes. That share is higher among lower-income people, who also are more likely to work in jobs that don't come with health insurance and would therefore depend on the new federal health care law. Smoking increases the risk of developing heart disease, lung problems and cancer, contributing to nearly 450,000 deaths a year.
Insurers won't be allowed to charge more under the overhaul for people who are overweight, or have a health condition like a bad back or a heart that skips beats — but they can charge more if a person smokes.
Starting next Jan. 1, the federal health care law will make it possible for people who can't get coverage now to buy private policies, providing tax credits to keep the premiums affordable. Although the law prohibits insurance companies from turning away the sick, the penalties for smokers could have the same effect in many cases, keeping out potentially costly patients.
"We don't want to create barriers for people to get health care coverage," said California state Assemblyman Richard Pan, who is working on a law in his state that would limit insurers' ability to charge smokers more. The federal law allows states to limit or change the smoking penalty.
"We want people who are smoking to get smoking cessation treatment," added Pan, a pediatrician who represents the Sacramento area.
Obama administration officials declined to be interviewed for this article, but a former consumer protection regulator for the government is raising questions.
"If you are an insurer and there is a group of smokers you don't want in your pool, the ones you really don't want are the ones who have been smoking for 20 or 30 years," said Karen Pollitz, an expert on individual health insurance markets with the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. "You would have the flexibility to discourage them."
Several provisions in the federal health care law work together to leave older smokers with a bleak set of financial options, said Pollitz, formerly deputy director of the Office of Consumer Support in the federal Health and Human Services Department.
First, the law allows insurers to charge older adults up to three times as much as their youngest customers.
Second, the law allows insurers to levy the full 50 percent penalty on older smokers while charging less to younger ones.
And finally, government tax credits that will be available to help pay premiums cannot be used to offset the cost of penalties for smokers.
Here's how the math would work:
Take a hypothetical 60-year-old smoker making $35,000 a year. Estimated premiums for coverage in the new private health insurance markets under Obama's law would total $10,172. That person would be eligible for a tax credit that brings the cost down to $3,325.
But the smoking penalty could add $5,086 to the cost. And since federal tax credits can't be used to offset the penalty, the smoker's total cost for health insurance would be $8,411, or 24 percent of income. That's considered unaffordable under the federal law. The numbers were estimated using the online Kaiser Health Reform Subsidy Calculator.
"The effect of the smoking (penalty) allowed under the law would be that lower-income smokers could not afford health insurance," said Richard Curtis, president of the Institute for Health Policy Solutions, a nonpartisan research group that called attention to the issue with a study about the potential impact in California.
In today's world, insurers can simply turn down a smoker. Under Obama's overhaul, would they actually charge the full 50 percent? After all, workplace anti-smoking programs that use penalties usually charge far less, maybe $75 or $100 a month.
Robert Laszewski, a consultant who previously worked in the insurance industry, says there's a good reason to charge the maximum.
"If you don't charge the 50 percent, your competitor is going to do it, and you are going to get a disproportionate share of the less-healthy older smokers," said Laszewski. "They are going to have to play defense."

[Bluechip]

I'm in a contract negotiations right now where it looks like tobacco users are going to end up paying an extra $50 per month and same for their spouse if they are a tobacco user.

A lot of companies already have this currently.

[ckinchen]

I worked for a company several years ago that would fire anyone they found out was a smoker.

[Spunt Drag]

Originally Posted by Bluechip

I'm in a contract negotiations right now where it looks like tobacco users are going to end up paying an extra $50 per month and same for their spouse if they are a tobacco user.

A lot of companies already have this currently.

But are they FORCED by law to purchase that insurance?

[Lake Chuck Duck]

Well as far as the government is concerned I dont own any guns and I dont smoke! (wink wink)

[Bluechip]

No, they are not.

[Lake Chuck Duck]

Originally Posted by Spunt Drag

But are they FORCED by law to purchase that insurance?

PPG's insurance is different for smokers and non smokers.

[jchief]

In many states, Louisiana is one of them, they have what is referred to as the "heart and lung act" for firefighters. Basically it says that any heart or lung diseases is presumed to have occurred on the job and is therefore a workers comp issue so the use of tobacco has been being debated.

["W"]

Originally Posted by ckinchen

I worked for a company several years ago that would fire anyone they found out was a smoker.

[Bluechip]

Originally Posted by ckinchen

I worked for a company several years ago that would fire anyone they found out was a smoker.

These employees will have to sign an affidavit saying they have not used tobacco in the previous 12 months to not be hit with the extra premium.

If they falsify, it will be considered falsifying company document and they will be subject to discipline including termination.

[Spunt Drag]

Originally Posted by Lake Chuck Duck

PPG's insurance is different for smokers and non smokers.

True but that is private industry doing what it wants. You have the choice of goin to work for another company with better insurance rates. It's not the same thing as the government forcing you to buy their insurance and also making it unaffordable because of a bad habit. There are some parts of Obamacare that I agree with, but forcing Americans to buy government insurance isn't one of em.

["W"]

nothing good comes from ObamaCare!! NOTHING

[ckinchen]

Originally Posted by "W"

Yep, 100 percent. Of course it was a health care organization but still they had 10,000 employees and we all had to sign an affidavit saying we did not smoke and asserted that we would not in the future.

[ckinchen]

Originally Posted by "W"

nothing good comes from ObamaCare!! NOTHING

That is certainly true.

[Hebert]

well.. out of spite..I hope every smoker that voted for this P.O.S. pays for their decision dearly...to the ones who didn't...time to quit or pay the price.......this is only the beginning in what the govt will hold over your head in order to control aspects of your life with a simple "health care bill"

[southern151]

Wouldn't this fall into some sort of discrimination?

I know cigarettes are bad for me. Do I need to quit? Yes! Do I need the gov't kicking my arse for it? NO!

[Duck Butter]

When dealing with insurance, if you are in a higher risk category then you will pay more. Makes sense to me, the insurance companies are there to make money. Capitalism bruh!


You smoke, your health insurance is higher than someone who doesn't

You get 5 speeding tickets a year and have a wreck every year, your car
insurance is higher than someone with a perfect driving record

If you are in a flood prone area....