The Smoker’s Life Insurance Policy Will Drain Your Wallet
When insurance brokers look out into the world they see two types of prospective customers. Every individual person fits into one of the two categories. They are either smokers or non-smokers.
Someone who occasionally smokes socially and someone who smokes everyday can end up in the same insurance category. He will pay even more if he smokes more than 20 cigarettes a day. Often premium rates for smokers can be up to three times the rate non-smokers pay. This is because insurance companies believe that smoking amplifies the risk of untimely death.
The financial penalties of smoking extend far past the price of a pack of cigarettes. In addition to the nickel-and-dime of a pack of smokes every time he runs out, the smoker endures costly consequences to lighting up.
Homes and vehicles that retain the stench of cigarette smoke lose resale value. Smokers can also be penalized when shopping for a new home because insurance companies believe smokers are more likely to burn down the house.
Smokers will also pay more for health insurance, dry cleaning and yearly teeth cleaning appointments. All of these costs add up quickly to put a hefty dent in a smoker’s wallet.
It isn’t simply what a smoker pays in extra an expense that reduces funds, but being paid less in the first place can cause his bank account to suffer as well. Studies have shown that smokers earn up to 11 percent less than non-smokers. These figures not only take into account time wasted on smoke breaks, but first impressions as well. Smokers may be perceived as less attractive and therefore passed by for jobs.
Insurance costs aren’t the only money matters smoker’s have to worry about; however, it is a huge issue. A smoker literally burns his money away. That nicotine rush can cost thousands of dollars a year more in insurance premiums.
While saving money on insurance premiums may not persuade him to quit smoking, a smoker may not be conscious of how much the habit is actually costing him. He may even lose his job. There have been several companies in the news recently who have fired employees who smoke simply because they pay more insurance on smokers than non-smokers.
It begs the question, is it worth th
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e cost?
But, the high cost of smoking doesn’t necessarily only affect the smoker himself. Documented studies have shown that Americans spend over 60 billion dollars a year treating smoking related illnesses. Women who choose to smoke during pregnancy cost the country another 3 billion dollars a year. It also causes the deaths of 2,500 unborn babies a year and results in low birth weight and life-long complications in countless others.
Fires set by smokers who fall asleep or are otherwise careless with their habit, cost the government 500 million dollars a year. The human cost is great, as fires started by cigarettes take the lives of more than 2,000 people a year.
Smokers with group life insurance push up premiums for smokers in the same pool by 4 billion dollars a year.
Smoking is by far the most prevalent cause of untimely death in the United States today. More than 400,000 people a year pay with their money and their lives to light up a cigarette.
That quick fix can not only be deadly, but greatly reduce quality of life as well. Be it human life, depreciation of property, health factors or jacked-up life insurance premiums, the decision to smoke cigarettes is costly.
By: Donnie Weber
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California Health Insurance Giant Aided by Health Insurance Reform
According to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Peter Orszag, the historic health insurance reform provides the most deficit reduction of any bill in the past decade. It’s estimated to reduce the deficit by more than $100 billion over the first decade, and by $1 trillion in the following decade.
The health insurance reform bill includes help for major health insurance companies and doctor-owned hospitals. That includes help for the giant California-based insurance company Kaiser Permanente, according to congressional aides and lobbyists.
The latest changes to the 153-page health insurance reform bill include a provision that tax-exempt insurers would have to pay a new fee levied on insurers on only half of their premiums. Kaiser Permanente is one of these tax-exempt insurers.
California Health Insurance Reform and Medicare
The bill also extends an August 1st deadline on new doctor-owned hospitals to apply to the government for eligibility to be paid for Medicare patients until the end of 2010.
According to a 2003 report by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 40.2 million Americans were enrolled in Medicare. That was 14 percent of the U.S. population. California had the largest enrollment of any state with 4.1 million Medicare beneficiaries, or 11 percent of the state’s population.
California Representative Tackles Tobacco Industry
While the media focused on the health insurance reform debate, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act was signed into law by President Obama on June 22, 2009.
By all accounts, it is the strongest measure to protect children from the dangers of smoking to date. Why does this law focus on children? Almost 90 percent of all smokers began at or before their 18th birthday. We’ve known about this for decades, but the tobacco industry has used special-interest lobbying to manipulate Congress.
Blatant refusal to accept responsibility for the sicknesses caused by cigarettes was exposed as recently as 1994 when Rep. Henry Waxman first brought tobacco CEOs before Congress. Waxman has represented the 30th congressional district of California in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1975, and has called cigarettes the single most dangerous consumer product ever sold.
Before Congress, these CEOs still denied that tobacco was deadly, that nicotine was addictive, and that they marketed to children. In reality, tobacco companies aggressively target children, and sell products with flavorings to mask the taste of tobacco and make it more tempting.
Healthcare Reform Has Potential to Help Millions
More than 400,000 Americans die of tobacco-related illnesses each year, and more than 8 million of us suffer from at least one serious illness caused by smoking. While you’ve probably heard that second-hand smoke can kill, third-hand smoke that is trapped in carpet, fabric, furniture, hair, skin, and toys also exposes you to toxic chemicals like arsenic and lead. Babies take in 20 times more third-hand smoke than adults because they breathe faster, and spend more time near the floor.
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act is a victory for health care reform because it will reduce the billions of dollars we spend on tobacco-related health care costs in this country. It is intended to reduce the number of children who start smoking, and to save American lives and make us healthier.
This Act bans tobacco advertising within a thousand feet of playgrounds and schools. It also curbs the ability of tobacco companies to market products to children by using appealing flavors. It forces tobacco companies to more clearly and publicly acknowledge the deadly effects of their products, and allows FDA scientists to take other common-sense steps to reduce the dangers of smoking.
About The Author
By Wiley Long – President, eCAHealthinsurance ( http://www.eCAHealthinsurance.com ) – California Health Insurance Advisors – Offering instant quotes on California Health Insurance plans, online information on health insurance plans in California, and personal assistance for all your California Health Insurance needs.