© AFP Photo / Justin Sullivan
The Affordable Care Act, which critics have also called "Obamacare", could subject smokers to premiums that are 50 percent higher than usual, starting next Jan 1. Health insurers will be allowed to charge smokers penalties that overweight Americans or those with other health conditions would not be subjected to.
A 60-year-old smoker could pay penalties as high as $5,100, in addition to the premiums, the Associated Press reports. A 55-year-old smoker's penalty could reach $4,250. The older a smoker is, the higher the penalty will be.
Nearly one in every five U.S. adults smokes, with a higher number of low-income people addicted to the unhealthy habit. Even though smokers are more likely to develop heart disease, cancer and lung problems and would therefore require more health care, the penalties might devastate those who need help the most - including retirees, older Americans, and low-income individuals.
"We don't want to create barriers for people to get health care coverage," California state Assemblyman Richard Pan told AP. "We want people who are smoking to get smoking cessation treatment."
Nearly 450,000 US residents die of smoking-related diseases each year, making the unhealthy habit a serious concern for lawmakers. One legislator is trying to criminalize smoking in his state, while others have raised taxes on cigarettes and the Obama administration has tried to inflict hefty fines upon smokers' premiums.
Karen Pollitz, a former consumer protection regular, told AP that no insurers want to provide coverage for Americans who have been smoking for decades, and that the penalties might prompt people to abandon the habit.
"You would have the flexibility to discourage them," she told AP.
But quitting is not easy, and charging older smokers up to three times as much as younger ones could make it difficult for them to seek care in the first place. A 60-year-old smoker charged with the penalty could be paying about $8,411 per year for health insurance, which is about 24 percent of a $35,000 income and is considered "unaffordable" under federal law.
"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.
Ultimately, the law that is meant to make health care more affordable could have the opposite effect on older smokers at a time when smoking-related illnesses usually arise.
Reader Comments
"The older a smoker is, the higher the penalty will be."
I'd be doomed and damned.
The rub will be that people who have a full complement, of lets say "Statins" et al in their systems, will get a reduced premium allowance. And just wait till they find out you eat pure saturated fat, the premiums will get way out of hand until you can prove a new relationship with good o'l hydrogenated fats.
Also - insurance agencies and corporate employee programs have for many years been specifically identifying smokers - saying it will not affect insurance rates or staffing decisions or in any way negatively affect smokers vs. non-smokers. They've been pretty darn effective at making smokers self-identify themselves as smokers - I think in large part due to the HUGE potential costs they claim for "lying" on the insurance forms. They threaten you will lose your insurance and imply will never get insurance again if you don't come clean on whether or not your're a smoker.
Also - the doctors really pressure you to ID whether you smoke or not - and they promise the information is absolutely confidential, is necessary for them to properly treat you, and will never be seen by anyone else.
-- But remember that form you sign that says it's OK for them to share information with other providers if needed - and that that means your insurance company - and you can bet those insurance companies track that information and share it as they see fit.
I once had an insurance company call me and ask if I would like to be counseled on what I could do to improve my acid reflux. -- I had only mentioned acid reflux to my doctor - and that was only in passing, as it only happened once or twice a month and only when overeating certain foods - thus it wasn't a problem, just a result of eating poorly if I chose to eat poorly.
- So how did the insurance company get the idea I had real issues with acid reflux? Enough to call me at home, after hours, to get me to discuss it with a nurse? - After I thought about it, it scared the bejeebers out of me - and I quite telling my doctor anything other than the minimum info needed to treat whatever complaint I had.
I am approaching my three score and ten. When I began smoking, doctors were in the cigarette ads promoting their favorite brands, in their lab coats with the reflector things on their foreheads and a stethoscope around their neck..
Question: So now, if I were still in the states and stopped smoking after 50+ years, would the insurers be any more lenient on my premiums... or would they even insure me at all? I kind of doubt it. Thank the Cosmic Mind that I moved out of that mean spirited land of Mammon.