Support Grows For Penalizing Employees Who Smoke; Can Save Over $10,000/yr per Worker

Several recent polls and surveys show growing public support for penalizing employees who smoke by making them pay more for their health insurance, reports Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), America's first antismoking organization.
By: Public Interest Law Professor John Banzhaf
 
June 9, 2010 - PRLog -- Several recent polls and surveys show growing public support for penalizing employees who smoke by making them pay more for their health insurance, reports Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), America's first antismoking organization.  

Coincidentally, a recent report shows that almost half of all large companies already penalize employees' unhealthy behaviors, or plan to do so shortly, with almost two-thirds targeting smokers. http://www.prlog.org/10724186-more-companies-penalizing-unhealthy-behaviors-like-smoking-to-save-10000yr-per-worker.html

When MSNBC reported in August, 2009, on a plan by ASH to incorporate personal responsibility into the new health reform law by charging smokers more for health insurance, it noted that 57% of Americans favor higher health insurance premiums for smokers, as contrasted with only 36% favoring a similar surcharge on the obese. http://www.pr-inside.com/most-want-health-insurance-smoker-surcharge-r1429307.htm

Interestingly, the new health reform law does in fact permit charging smokers up to 50% more for their health insurance, but similar surcharges for other health factors such as obesity can be instituted only if they are part of a federally qualified "wellness" program, and then only up to a lower percentage.

At about the same time, the WorkTrends report noted that a majority of workers supported charging employees who smoke more for their health insurance (50% vs 47%), whereas they opposed similar charges for those who drink too much alcohol (43% vs. 54%), and strongly oppose such charges for workers who are very overweight (26% vs. 69%). http://www.heldrich.rutgers.edu/uploadedFiles/Publication...

Interestingly, the same report said that workers also strongly oppose the use of financial incentives to promote healthier behaviors.  "The notion that participation in a wellness program should be rewarded with extra pay or extra time off, however, is troubling to workers. . . .   Two thirds of workers (66%) feel that employers should not provide extra pay to participants, and 6 in 10 (59%) say the same about extra time off."

A more recent survey by CNNMoney.com showed even more support for charging smokers higher rates for health insurance.  Asked "should insurers penalize people for unhealthy behavior?," 31% said "yes, it promotes good health," and an additional 22% responded "only for very unhealthy things like smoking."  In short, 53% would support such a surcharge, whereas only 31% favor using incentives instead.  http://money.cnn.com/POLLSERVER/results/51174.html

This growing trend to require smokers to pay at least a portion of the huge costs they impose on the economy -- almost $200 billion a year -- is also reflected in a recent national poll which finds that voters favor a $1/pack increase in state cigarette taxes by an overwhelming 67%-31% margin -- more than 2 to 1 -- with 53% saying they "strongly" support such a tax increase. The increase is favored by Democrats (70%), Republicans (58% percent), and Independents (64%).

A much higher percentage of employees would probably support charging smokers more for health insurance if they realized that each smoking employee can cost a company more than $10,000 a year in higher health care costs, disability payments, time lost from work, etc. -- money which otherwise could be used to provide better health insurance coverage for all employees, higher salaries, or for other purposes.  http://ash.org/$12000.

In other words, charging everyone the same for health insurance is unfair to the overwhelming majority of workers who do not smoke because it forces them to bear these enormous costs.  Since most life insurance companies charge smokers substantially more than nonsmokers, it would seem fair to apply the same principle to health insurance since smoking is the biggest single controllable factor contributing to higher health care costs, argues ASH.

"This shows that the public is beginning to heed the call by President Barack Obama, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and many members of Congress from both parties to use the principle of personal responsibility to hold down health care costs.  Making smokers responsible for some portion of the costs they now impose on others is only fair and a good first step,"  says public interest law professor John Banzhaf, Executive Director of ASH.

Meanwhile, Banzhaf will hosting the Seventh World Conference on Nonsmokers' Rights this weekend in Washington, DC, where activists from around the world will gather to plot new strategies to protect nonsmokers from both secondhand (and third hand) tobacco smoke as well as the enormous financial burden smokers impose on nonsmokers.  Graduate students in the DC area who might wish to attend the Conference should contact him at: jbanzhaf@ash.org.

PROFESSOR JOHN F. BANZHAF III
Professor of Public Interest Law at GWU,
FAMRI Dr. William Cahan Distinguished Professor,
FELLOW, World Technology Network, and
Executive Director and Chief Counsel
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
America’s First Antismoking Organization
2013 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006, USA
(202) 659-4310 // (703) 527-8418

# # #

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), America's first anti-smoking and nonsmokers' rights organization, serves as the legal action arm of the anti-smoking community. It is supported by tax-deductible contributions.
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Source:Public Interest Law Professor John Banzhaf
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Tags:Banzhaf, Ash, Smoker, Penalty, Disincentive, Smoking, Poll, Survey, Punish, Discourage, Workplace, Employer, Worker
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