Active Questions
| Diet & Health / 3:57 PM - Tuesday November 17, 2009 |
Should obese and smokers pay more for health insurance?"Overall, the United States spends about $1.8 trillion a year in medical costs associated with chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer, and all three are linked to SMOKING and OBESITY, the nation's two largest risk factors, according to the America's Health Rankings report."
- Asked by angelita, A Thinker, Female, 22-25, Denver, Other Profession |
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Pay per pound, I say!!!
- Response by rafiki910, A Mr. Nice Guy, Male, Who Cares?, Boston, Body Work
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Well if you were going to do that you would have to do it for anyone doing some type of risky behavior or else someone I'm sure would find it discriminatory. So you'd have to get people who don't wear sunscreen and sunbathe, people who have unprotected sex, use drugs... Smoking and obesity are just two very limited factors. Basically it would be impractical and discriminatory. Also there are plenty of people who do neither of those things and end up with huge medical costs...which could probably be linked back to something. For instance cancer from certain chemicals...
- Response by imlivingthedream, A Trendsetter, Female, 22-25, Student
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The Human Rights people would be down on you like a tonne of bricks.
- Response by bluegenel, A Mr. Nice Guy, Male, 36-45, Technical
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Smokers already pay by paying a great deal of money in taxes. I hope they end up taxing anyone who eats at McDonald's the same way. Put a tax on those little Debbies and tax the Twinkie while you're at it.
- Response by poolfish2, A Life of the Party, Male, 56-65, Who Cares?
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I would charge smokers because they have a choice, even if a lot don't think so. Obese people can be large due to many conditions, and to genetics, causes not of their own doing. Some overeat, true, but most have physical problems. If we charge them more, we would then be on track to charge more for anyone that has a medical condition: cancer, tuberculosis, diabetes, etc.
- Response by stoney07, A Creative, Male, 56-65, Who Cares?
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I came to comment but read rafiki's comment and decided there was nothing more to say. Accept to say I had nothing more to say.
- Response by falsehammer, A Mr. Nice Guy, Male, 26-28, Kansas City, Consulting
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I think their insurance companies should be able to ask them for a higher rate...but only after offering current subscribers a treatment option through smoking cessation and/or weight loss programs.
- Response by drumboi2, A Guy Critical, Male, 56-65, Technical
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Both are bad an as an x smoker I understand why you ask, but where does it end. What is next? People who live in congested cities, live near power lines, see where I am going. We need a health care system that keeps people healthy. Now of they refuse treatment or any changes to achieve that goal yes they should.
- Response by redbone, A Career Man, Male, 56-65, Food Service
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well being that ciggarettes are HIGHLY taxed and that tax money is supposed to go to cancer research and treatment of smoking related illnesses, we smokers are already paying for it. as for the obese...? i don't know about charging them more, but perhaps a discount for those people who are healthy.
- Response by guy5432, A Couch Potato, Male, 29-35, New York, Who Cares?
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I think they should pay more taxes in everything.
- Response by int24h, A Career Man, Male, 36-45, Washington, DC, Other Profession
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I think they should pay more taxes in everything.
- Response by int24h, A Career Man, Male, 36-45, Washington, DC, Other Profession
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very few people who have to pay for 100% of their insurance can afford it anyway so whats the difference
- Response by bigcurt, A Mr. Nice Guy, Male, 46-55, Pittsburgh, Self-Employed
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Yes. They already do and have been for years. When people get their first "real" job and get benefits they should be very careful about the part of the form on lifestyles. It will follow you around for years.
- Response by newyorkjoe, A Career Man, Male, 36-45, New York, Lawyer
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I was going to argue yes. But then I realised that insurance companies can get out of paying up if the problem is the result of you breeching your duty of care. If you have wilfully lived a lifestyle that has allowed you to become obese without intervention, and you have wilfully taken up smoking, then the consequences are the result of you not doing everything you can to avoid a forseeable problem. If that's good enough for them to get out of paying up when you have an injury, then it should be good enough for them to get out of paying when you get a disease as a result of a controllable risk factor.
- Response by ryanthegreatarj, An Intellectual Guy, Male, 18-21, Fitness
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Smokers already pay the most taxes of anyone, and are are looked down upon by the majority(nonsmokers) who like judging others, obese people who get way more medical problems than smokers, currently do not pay anything extra, so I say if smokers get to get taxed out the wazo, obese people should be taxed even more are their 100x unhealtier foods.
- Response by A Hippie Chick, Female, 18-21
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Typically, obese and smokers usually do pay more or don't qualify at all. Being in the business, if a person is overweight, based on the company's guideline or an accepted body mass index, BMI, you will be rated up, thereby paying higher than standard rates. And I believe that it's appropriate to have them pay more, because they most likely will use the system more than a healthier person.
- Response by rhunt0210, A Mr. Nice Guy, Male, 46-55, Other Profession
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No! Should bad drivers,peple over 60, or handicap people?
- Response by roanna, A Hippie Chick, Female, 46-55, Self-Employed
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Smokers, yes. Although obesity does cause health problems, you can't blame it on everything. I've had some very skinny friends who have died from cancer, heart attacks, etc. that had nothing to do with their weight.
- Response by experience101, A Thinker, Female, 56-65, Who Cares?
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I think they should continue to pay through taxes. Tax anything that is bad that is a choice. You can then subsidize some of the health care cost with some of those taxes.
- Response by mgnpi, A Guy Critical, Male, 29-35, Miami, Executive
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That's an ignorant question. Why don't we just take the obese and smokers out back and shoot them. While we're at it, why not throw in those with depression, the elderly, and children born with deformities. This is REAL life and people shouldn't be penalized for having issues.
- Response by italiangypsy, A Thinker, Female, Who Cares?, Philadelphia, Other Profession
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