Forum Index > News > Overweight, anti-smoking, NC state employees will be LIVID > Post a New Reply
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by runamok
on Thu Oct 08, 2009 12:15 pm |
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runamok
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by Pete Gatti
on Thu Oct 08, 2009 1:12 pm |
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"We think we'll have $13 million of cost savings in the next fiscal year," Lacey Barnes, deputy executive administrator of the plan, said in an interview today from Raleigh, the state capital. "As smokers quit, there will likely be savings in medical costs."
And how will Raleigh make up the loss in state cig taxes as smokers quit and farmers grow less and less tobacco? Well, they could throw a tax on burgers and sodie pop. Yea, that's the ticket. |
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Pete Gatti
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by garhkal
on Thu Oct 08, 2009 4:52 pm |
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garhkal
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by libertarian99
on Thu Oct 08, 2009 4:57 pm |
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We always hear that smokers generate more health care expenses than non-smokers, but I have never witnessed that in real life. I've worked for about 15 different companies, but only met one person in all that time who developed emphysema and no one who got lung cancer. That seems really strange, because if the news reports are correct, we should all be running into these expensive, ill smokers on a regular basis, if not daily.
Maybe I have a stronger-than-usual immune system or maybe it's because I exercise and eat right, but I rarely ever take a sick day from work. I am always one of the healthiest people in any work group I've ever been a part of. If any kind of contagious illness goes around the office, I usually walk around feeling slightly miserable for a few days while my co-workers are laying at home in bed. I do get a flu shot every year, so maybe that helps.
All that said, I'm pretty skeptical about insurance company figures, especially when they are being used to justify raising people's premiums. I do, however, enjoy watching non-smokers experience first-hand what it feels like to have their employer stick their nose into personal behavior that really should be none of their business.
People can say it's justified due to costs, etc., but that doesn't change the fact that no one wants their employer dictating their lifestyle. Stress levels will go through the roof as employers assert their new ownership interest in people's bodies, making it clearer than ever that most jobs are just a form of thinly veiled slavery. |
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libertarian99
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by jsidney
on Fri Oct 09, 2009 5:43 am |
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jsidney
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by garhkal
on Fri Oct 09, 2009 4:04 pm |
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| I see the outrage for obese, but where is the outrage from that state for smokers.. |
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garhkal
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by libertarian99
on Fri Oct 09, 2009 4:49 pm |
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garhkal wrote: I see the outrage for obese, but where is the outrage from that state for smokers..
One thing is for certain. Public health authorities are not going to admit that a lot of people are overeating because it is no longer socially acceptable to smoke. They are also not going to admit that all they are doing with their nannyism is driving people from one risk category to another. If you quit doing one thing, you just move to another category where they harass you all over again. |
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libertarian99
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by garhkal
on Fri Oct 09, 2009 11:01 pm |
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| That is true. Of over 80 people that i know personally who have quit, just over 30 are what i would now consider obese... Admittedly 13 were already on that path. BUT it is telling when 18 were not. |
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garhkal
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by runamok
on Sat Oct 10, 2009 12:46 am |
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garhkal wrote: Of over 80 people that i know personally who have quit...
80? Wow! Man...I gotta get more friends. |
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runamok
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by libertarian99
on Sat Oct 10, 2009 11:50 am |
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| Thank you for posting these Web links. It's rare to find anyone with solid credentials who is willing to say what they really think instead of just repeating the politically correct mantra. Very refreshing and informative! |
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libertarian99
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