NONsmokers Forced to Pay More For Health Insurance in 3 States and DC

Three states and DC prevent businesses from requiring smokers to pay even a portion of the huge costs they impose on fellow workers under a personal responsibility portion of Obamacare which permits up to a 50% smoker surcharge
By: Professor John Banzhaf, GWU Law School
 
WASHINGTON - April 10, 2013 - PRLog -- WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 10, 2013): Three states and DC have voted to prevent businesses from requiring smoking employees to pay even a small portion of the huge unnecessary costs they impose on fellow workers – over $12,000 a year according to one court ruling – under a personal responsibility portion of Obamacare which permits up to a 50% surcharge on health insurance premiums for smokers.

At a time when a growing number of businesses are finding that incentives to get workers to quit are ineffective, and that imposing higher costs is far more efficient, costs nothing, and is fairer to the great majority of workers who do not smoke, the decisions by Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont and DC fly in the face of surveys which show strong support for requiring smokers to pay more, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf, the man behind the concept of differential health insurance premiums, and the personal responsibility section in Obamacare.

“Making smokers pay even a small portion of the huge costs they now impose on others is not only fairer to the great majority of workers who don’t smoke and now must bear those costs; it’s also the more effective way for companies to slash their health care costs by providing the added incentive many smokers need to do what they already want to do – quit smoking,” says Banzhaf, noting that many employees who are yet to suffer from smoking-related health problems have no immediate compelling reason to quit.

Under current law, smokers can be charged more for their health insurance, even if the employer is too small to have a qualified wellness program. On the other hand, charging more for factors like obesity can only be done as part of a qualified wellness program.

Under Obamacare, this policy is continued for smoking, while employers can still charge more for other unhealthy lifestyles – such as being obese – only as part of a wellness program meeting stiff federal requirements.

Today, a majority of large employers and even a few states already charge – or are about to charge – smokers more, and a small but growing number are going further by simply giving preference to nonsmokers, or refusing to hire smokers.

Banzhaf has helped win cases upholding the right of employers – including private companies as well as cities and other governmental bodies – to insist upon a smokefree workforce,and that’s a lot better than a mere surcharge on workers who smoke, he says.

Stopping businesses for making smokers pay more will simply encourage even more companies not to hire smokers, openly or otherwise, predicts Banzhaf.

In 1984 Prof. Banzhaf worked with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to develop the concept of differential health insurance premiums to help insure that the costs of unhealthy lifestyle choices is paid by those who make them and not other workers, and to provide additional encouragement for people to live healthier lives. Since that time he has obtained two federal rulings permitting smokers to be charged more for their health insurance, even if there is no wellness program.

JOHN F. BANZHAF III, B.S.E.E., J.D., Sc.D.
Professor of Public Interest Law
George Washington University Law School,
FAMRI Dr. William Cahan Distinguished Professor,
Fellow, World Technology Network,
Founder, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
2000 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052, USA
(202) 994-7229 // (703) 527-8418
http://banzhaf.net/ @profbanzhaf
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Source:Professor John Banzhaf, GWU Law School
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Tags:Smoker, Surcharge, Obamacare premium
Industry:Insurance, Health
Location:Washington - District of Columbia - United States
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