Should Smokers Have to Pay 50 Percent More for Health Insurance?
Expect big changes when Obamacare’s insurance marketplaces kick in if you’re a smoker—though you can avoid a spike by doing one simple thing.
By Fran KritzMarch 11, 2013Comment
Nurses at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City still chuckle about the elderly gentleman who was a patient at the hospital years ago. He would always respond the same way when asked if he smoked: “I gave it up when they raised the price to 35 cents a pack!” That was about 40 years ago. Cigarettes now hover at $10 a pack in New York City and only a bit less elsewhere.
But the pack price is not the only cigarette-related cost that’s rising. Under the rules of the Affordable Care Act, people who smoke are likely to see a big jump in their health insurance premiums starting in 2014 if they buy coverage under the new state insurance marketplaces.
If you’re a smoker over age 50, your premium surcharge can be 50 percent higher than a nonsmoker’s; younger people are likely to be penalized too, but probably at a lower rate (it remains to be seen what the surcharge will be, exactly).
http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/03/11/smokers-be-hard-hit-affordable-care-act
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