Employer charging smokers.. Thoughts?

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  • avir8
    avir8 Posts: 671 Member
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    i only smoke when i drink... so, i dont take breaks to smoke at work. and, i dont know where this money goes, i will learn more later. in my head, why not charge folks that are obese with awful eating habits & that are sedentary.


    Never heard of someone getting fat sitting next to an overweight person.

    :laugh: :flowerforyou:
  • CherryOnionKiss
    CherryOnionKiss Posts: 376 Member
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    Just take a break and go walk instead of smoking to get a break. This is ridiculous. Smokers are actually paying from their pockets to gamble their health away. Will I get cancer or not? Will I give cancer to somebody by second-hand smoke or not ?

    Smoking can lead to a crapload of health issues. Of your the insurer will charge more. Every insurance does.
  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
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    I think it's a good idea.

    Where I live, if you smoke, you get a smoke break. If you don't smoke, too bad for you!

    I've been known to take up smoking because places I worked did this. I'd smoke with everyone else, then not smoke when I got off work.
  • redheaddee
    redheaddee Posts: 2,005 Member
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    My insurance company has done this as well, and although I may understand why, doesn't mean I agree. It does single out one group of people, and before long, we will be charged for being overweight, for driving too fast, for playing sports (increased risk injuries), or even require genetic sequencing to base our rates on the probability of our getting cancer, heart disease, etc. It is a slippery slope.

    That being said, seems easier to me to quit smoking then spend $80 a month, plus cigs (even occassional), plus kissing a smoker is like licking an ashtray if one is not also a smoker. :smokin:
  • fbmandy55
    fbmandy55 Posts: 5,263 Member
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    i only smoke when i drink... so, i dont take breaks to smoke at work. and, i dont know where this money goes, i will learn more later. in my head, why not charge folks that are obese with awful eating habits & that are sedentary.
    I agree. Fat (yes, I said fat) people should be charged the same amount. Where are the studies about the medical costs of overweight people? Same for alcoholics.

    Agreed.
  • CherryOnionKiss
    CherryOnionKiss Posts: 376 Member
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    i only smoke when i drink... so, i dont take breaks to smoke at work. and, i dont know where this money goes, i will learn more later. in my head, why not charge folks that are obese with awful eating habits & that are sedentary.


    Never heard of someone getting fat sitting next to an overweight person.

    Love this.

    By sitting beside a smoker you get all the cancerous chemicals from second-hand smoke. If you sit beside an overweight person a hamburger won't be magically shoved in your throat.
  • andreanicole686
    andreanicole686 Posts: 406 Member
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    Sounds like its the insurance company charging it, not your employer. Most insurance companies do.

    Smoking regardless of whatever else you do still makes you an at risk employee. They tend to get sick more often etc. the insurance companies are doing the same thing for obese people. I think it's a great idea.
  • andreanicole686
    andreanicole686 Posts: 406 Member
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    i only smoke when i drink... so, i dont take breaks to smoke at work. and, i dont know where this money goes, i will learn more later. in my head, why not charge folks that are obese with awful eating habits & that are sedentary.


    Never heard of someone getting fat sitting next to an overweight person.

    EXACTLY! Well said!

    Love this.

    By sitting beside a smoker you get all the cancerous chemicals from second-hand smoke. If you sit beside an overweight person a hamburger won't be magically shoved in your throat.
  • fbmandy55
    fbmandy55 Posts: 5,263 Member
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    Just take a break and go walk instead of smoking to get a break. This is ridiculous. Smokers are actually paying from their pockets to gamble their health away. Will I get cancer or not? Will I give cancer to somebody by second-hand smoke or not ?

    Smoking can lead to a crapload of health issues. Of your the insurer will charge more. Every insurance does.

    So, should a person with an unhealthy BMI have to pay also, since they are causing just as many, if not more costs for the insurance due to how unhealthy THEY are?
  • CincinnatiDEIFan
    CincinnatiDEIFan Posts: 188 Member
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    I had to pay a premium for our insurance when they found out my daughter (age 9) has a history of migraines. So nothing surprises me.

    I also am looking for employment and two applications I put in (they were government jobs) have stated that the drug testing would also include looking for nicotine and that an offer may be adjusted if it was found and even potentially recinded.
  • GurleyGirl524
    GurleyGirl524 Posts: 578 Member
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    most group health insurance plans are going to some sort of program like this. Higher premiums for overweight people or smokers, and more incentives for those that have a healthier lifestyle.
  • misscfe
    misscfe Posts: 295 Member
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    There are many companies out their who will not even hire smokers and are allowed to do this. I agree this is probably the insurance because It is another incentive for smokers to quit. Smoking is 100% a personal choice. Things such as obesity are not necessarily a personal choice. Sometimes these issues are due to other health issues which the person cannot control. Yes many times they can be controlled but it cannot always be done.

    I would guess this is only the start for the insurance companies. Smoking is an easy issue to start with because it is a personal choice but I would not be surprised if down the road their will be fees or something for issues such as obesity.

    You also need to remember you may have a clean bill of health now but smoking typically has long term affects. Just because you are ok now doesn't mean you will not have health issues down the road due to smoking even if you chose to quit today.
  • Gremlinz
    Gremlinz Posts: 3,259 Member
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    The insurance companies charge it as a risk factor, similar to auto insurance charging more for an 18-year old driver versus a 40-year old driver.

    If the insurance companies start charging more for obese patients, those costs will eventually get passed on as well.

    I'm not sure how your employer can enforce this, though. How would they verify if someone is a smoker, especially if (like you) they only smoke when drinking? Weight goes into a medical record, but smoking doesn't (unless you admit to it). I'm genuinely curious about this.

    Insurance companies (should they choose) can check for smoking via cheek swabs, etc. All insurance companies use 12 months as a non-smoking threshold. Should someone claim as a non-smoker, and die, and then the insurance company finds out that they have indeed smoked in the last 12 months, the insurance company will reduce the death benefit to an amount that premiums charged would have covered if they were an admitted smoker (ie, much less death benefit). Bottom line, it isn't worth lying to an insurance company.

    As for overweight or obese people, insurance companies also charge a premium, usually 50-75 percent more on individual policies, but have yet to do so for group/company policies.
  • k011185
    k011185 Posts: 320 Member
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    It's definitely insurance, my husband's job has the same thing. Except like another poster said, the non-smokers actually get a deduction, the smokers pay the full price.
  • Double_Tapp
    Double_Tapp Posts: 101
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    Good for them.

    Until they do it to fat people, THEN it's discrimination and bullying. Right?


    :noway:

    Well said!
  • poncho33
    poncho33 Posts: 1,511
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    I think it's BS... if she's getting a clean bill of health from her doctor it's BS that they are charging her for something that could happen to her in her 40's 50's 60's 70's.... I haven't seen many 20 something's die from smoking cigs. And the way employment is today who is to say she will be working there long-term. Smoking has been demonized as a sin and there for that group can be targeted to be charged more. There are plenty of other groups that use more healthcare than the avg. but they are protected by claims of discrimination.
  • jkestens63
    jkestens63 Posts: 1,164 Member
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    My opinion is it makes sense b/c smokers cost a company more in medical bills. I'm no doctor but I read that smokers will get sick easier than non-smokers, have a higher risk of developing cancers, heart disease (even if blood pressure is not high), and other diease that simply makes a smoker more expensive than an identical person who did not smoke.

    I understand this thought but realistically -- alcoholism costs insurance companies & employers money, as does drug addiction or other ailments. Like smoking, they are addictions and I don't necessarily feel someone should be penalized for it. Its like charging someone more because they have diabetes... or my lymphedema cost the insurance company literally thousands upon thousands of dollars. Although I have no symptoms of it now... should I be paying more because those problems might return?

    Or how about obese people... should they be charged more?
  • juliaamilee
    juliaamilee Posts: 262 Member
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    i only smoke when i drink... so, i dont take breaks to smoke at work. and, i dont know where this money goes, i will learn more later. in my head, why not charge folks that are obese with awful eating habits & that are sedentary.


    I think this will be coming as well. ... My husband smokes and my insurance has went up, I have to choose the option that he is a smoker, it increases our family and expenses to 1000.00 more deductable than it was. Even tho he does not smoke around any of us, he does not smoke in the cars, or in the house. I have threatened to drop him and let his own cover it he only has health and mine covers dental vision health and life.
  • squishymissay
    squishymissay Posts: 37 Member
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    no, but they are charging because the medical problems for smokers cost more--not because they are making the guy next to them sick.
    In truth, they probably should charge a premium for any unhealthy lifestyle choice.

    and no I'm not a smoker. never have been in my life.
  • loserbaby84
    loserbaby84 Posts: 241 Member
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    I think it's a good idea.

    Where I live, if you smoke, you get a smoke break. If you don't smoke, too bad for you!

    the main reason my wife smoked in HS...as a waitress it's the only way she got a break "like everyone else".

    I was in the cracker factory years ago and pretended to smoke so I could get up at night. Only smokers could. It is hard to pretend to smoke.

    I "smoke" with my coworkers. Every time they go - I go outside with them for some "fresh air" haha! I agree that I shouldn't be punished for not smoking and thus not taking "smoke breaks"!

    I don't agree that this employer is singling out smokers though - but that's insurance for ya!

    If you only smoke when you drink maybe you should quit drinking .. just sayin ;)

    Cheers!

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