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by runamok
on Wed Oct 28, 2009 8:56 am |
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http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/56194
Snips:
Under the Senate Finance Committee version of the health-care bill, health insurance companies would be allowed to charge tobacco users premiums up to 50 percent higher than those of non-users, while marijuana and crack cocaine smokers could not be penalized with higher premiums.
This means, for example, that for every $100 in premium that a non-tobacco user pays, a tobacco user could be charged $150.
That is quite substantial to say the least.
There's more scary stuff here besides this.
There will be lots and lots of smokers who will, blindly, be in favor of this "health care reform" and if it is implemented, this will catch them all by surprise. They will cry foul but then it will be too late. |
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runamok
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by garhkal
on Wed Oct 28, 2009 4:17 pm |
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| I hope to heck someone asks whom ever votes for this why smoking crack cocaine and marujana is ok.. |
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garhkal
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by libertarian99
on Wed Oct 28, 2009 8:08 pm |
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Other people will be gouged, too. Eventually everyone will be hit with age-related premium increases, and most people will go from single to family at some point. Of course, tobacco use would add another surcharge on top of all that.
They will definitely have a problem with massive numbers of people lying, since insurance will probably be mandatory and smokers will not be able to opt out. How will they differentiate smokers from NRT users? That's another issue, because obviously there are stakeholders who want to encourage more sales of NRT.
Here are the other groups that will pay increased rates:
-- Tobacco use: 1.5 to 1
-- Age: 4 to 1
-- Family composition:
1) Single: 1 to 1
2) Adult with child: 1.8 to 1
3) Two adults: 2 to 1
4) Family: 3 to 1
People with children are going to be slammed even worse than single, childless tobacco users. Of course, the low income kids have SCHIP, courtesy of us. I'm sure they'll have to expand that to cover every little kid in the country, even the ones whose parents drive BMWs. |
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libertarian99
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by runamok
on Thu Oct 29, 2009 6:41 am |
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libertarian99 wrote: How will they differentiate smokers from NRT users?
By making NRT available only by prescription. You test positive? Show us your prescription. |
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runamok
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by gilster
on Thu Oct 29, 2009 6:44 am |
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Here's Mine 
Got to love the Doctors Name! |
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gilster
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by runamok
on Thu Oct 29, 2009 7:05 am |
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This is an obvious ploy to, once again, get smokers to subsidize everyone else.
Even abstaining for a couple weeks before going in for your "insurance premium assessment" (peeing in a cup) won't work when pee tests become standard procedure for every doctor appointment, regardless of what you are there for. Test positive and insurance benefits will be denied even though you've paid many thousands in premiums already. Or, perhaps force you to pay up the difference between the smoker and non-smoker rate since your last negative pee test.
These are all very plausible scenarios. I put nothing past these people. |
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runamok
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by libertarian99
on Thu Oct 29, 2009 4:46 pm |
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runamok wrote: libertarian99 wrote: How will they differentiate smokers from NRT users?
By making NRT available only by prescription. You test positive? Show us your prescription.
Nicorette started off as a prescription-only product, then went over-the-counter. I would think the NRT makers would crush any attempt to reverse that.
Forcing people to see their doctor for a prescription would annihilate sales, and it would also make the smoking bans more untenable. Easy access to NRT has facilitated passage of all the smoking bans. I don't think anyone would want to go back to the way things were before people had a convenient way to eliminate nicotine cravings in no-smoking areas. |
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libertarian99
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by libertarian99
on Thu Oct 29, 2009 4:59 pm |
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runamok wrote: This is an obvious ploy to, once again, get smokers to subsidize everyone else.
Even abstaining for a couple weeks before going in for your "insurance premium assessment" (peeing in a cup) won't work when pee tests become standard procedure for every doctor appointment, regardless of what you are there for. Test positive and insurance benefits will be denied even though you've paid many thousands in premiums already. Or, perhaps force you to pay up the difference between the smoker and non-smoker rate since your last negative pee test.
These are all very plausible scenarios. I put nothing past these people.
It won't be necessary for them to give me any type of body fluid test, because I will tell them straight up that I smoke. If they require everyone to have insurance by law, then they're going to have to deal with the realities of human nature. Doctors are well aware of the high failure rates for long-term smoking cessation.
That's one good reason why most insurance companies won't cover smoking cessation aids. The failure rate is so high, they know they'll be throwing away tons of money on failed attempts. I've noticed that some insurance companies pay less for Wellbutrin than other antidepressants, too, probably because so many people use it in failed quit-smoking attempts. |
Last edited by libertarian99 on Thu Oct 29, 2009 6:23 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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by garhkal
on Thu Oct 29, 2009 5:10 pm |
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| I can almost see a day where smokers are rounded up into concentration camps.. for our own good. |
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garhkal
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by libertarian99
on Thu Oct 29, 2009 6:26 pm |
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garhkal wrote: I can almost see a day where smokers are rounded up into concentration camps.. for our own good.
Of course, it would probably be in the middle of the Sahara Desert... |
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