Simple man's vices$$$$$

Originally Posted by Selena

My company is going to ding smokers next year but frankly, smokers are a nit in the cost of insurance these days, fat people are the major problem.

Originally Posted by Hammer4

One thing I find ironic is the way tobacco costs the government in many different ways, for example one hand (of the government) is paying tobacco subsidies to tobacco growers, then another is paying health care costs to try and take care of the people who made use of the products made from the tobacco the government helped pay to have raised.....

That kind of shows you the power special interest groups have in influencing government policy and where our tax dollars are spent, not to mention allowing harmful products to remain in the market long, long after they are known to be dangerous.

Originally Posted by Jim S.

Well, I can tell ya smokers are killing my company's BC/BS premiums, and the simple reason is because over a lifetime, they use more medical care than nonsmokers. It is way higher. BC/BS says a smoker will use up 40% more in health expenses over a lifetime than a nonsmoker, and a smoker's family members on the plan see doctors a lot more often too, whether they themselves smoke or not. BCBS says the total family costs of smokers way outrank those of people who are clinically obese, though that is the second high-cost group, mainly due to diabetes.

Starting next year here, every family member on our plan has to do a wellness survey annually, and if it is determined they have one of 5 key conditions, they have to undergo mandatory health and lifestyle coaching/counseling. As of now, only employees have to do that.

I'm all for it, cuz my portion of the payment has escalated (particularly in the last 5 years) and benefits are being trimmed a little every couple of years now. I know my company is running as fast as it can to contain those costs, now and in the future. Our coverage at retirement used to be 100% company paid, regardless. After 2010, it will be 75% IF you and your family have participated in the screening, survey and coaching process.

So my premise is true, based on what the insurance company is telling us. Dollars and cents will put the lid on smoking. We already have a society where most smokers are now of lower economic means, with huge gains in containing smoking in the middle and upper classes, and spiraling insurance costs and tobacco costs will eventually thin those ranks, too.

And dollars and cents will eventually put the lid on obesity, too, unless our government acts to somehow do it. (Remember the President's Plan for Physical Fitness? Ahhh, Kennedy was onto something there. Amazing how many schools have NO organized exercise activities now. But they have soda machines!) For the first time in our nation's history, our kids will not live as long as we do. That is shocking.

How's that for hijacking a thread?