Adam's Apple
Senior Member
- Apr 25, 2004
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Poll also covers the topic of universal health coverage.
Smokers, Obese Should Pay More Health Insurance: Poll
By Kim Dixon, Reuters News Service
November 14, 2006
Most Americans believe smokers and obese people should pay more for health insurance, but they have mixed views on how to help the millions without any health insurance, according to a survey published on Tuesday.
The poll of about 1,500 people found that that about 80 percent believe the U.S. health insurance system, with 46.6 million uninsured, needs fixing.
Sixty percent of those polled favored higher premiums for smokers while 30 percent felt the obese should pay more.
"When it comes to personal responsibility, consumers increasingly support making people pay more for unhealthy behavior," said the report in the journal Health Affairs.
The survey came a week after Democrats, who generally support more government measures to help the uninsured than Republicans, won control of both houses of Congress.
And on Monday, the health insurance industry unexpectedly threw its support behind a plan for nearly universal health insurance.
The rate of uninsured, now nearly 16 percent of Americans, has been climbing for years, driven by consumer demand and escalating prices for prescription drugs and hospital care.
About 20 percent of large employers are already giving discounts to workers who do not smoke, according to Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health, which lobbies for corporations on health issues.
"The non-smoker's discount is growing in popularity and I think it is going to grow faster," she said.
As to obesity, "I think it will be a while before we get to the point where people begin tying a financial discount to something like BMI (body mass index)," she said.
for full article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061114/pl_nm/insurance_dc
Smokers, Obese Should Pay More Health Insurance: Poll
By Kim Dixon, Reuters News Service
November 14, 2006
Most Americans believe smokers and obese people should pay more for health insurance, but they have mixed views on how to help the millions without any health insurance, according to a survey published on Tuesday.
The poll of about 1,500 people found that that about 80 percent believe the U.S. health insurance system, with 46.6 million uninsured, needs fixing.
Sixty percent of those polled favored higher premiums for smokers while 30 percent felt the obese should pay more.
"When it comes to personal responsibility, consumers increasingly support making people pay more for unhealthy behavior," said the report in the journal Health Affairs.
The survey came a week after Democrats, who generally support more government measures to help the uninsured than Republicans, won control of both houses of Congress.
And on Monday, the health insurance industry unexpectedly threw its support behind a plan for nearly universal health insurance.
The rate of uninsured, now nearly 16 percent of Americans, has been climbing for years, driven by consumer demand and escalating prices for prescription drugs and hospital care.
About 20 percent of large employers are already giving discounts to workers who do not smoke, according to Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health, which lobbies for corporations on health issues.
"The non-smoker's discount is growing in popularity and I think it is going to grow faster," she said.
As to obesity, "I think it will be a while before we get to the point where people begin tying a financial discount to something like BMI (body mass index)," she said.
for full article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061114/pl_nm/insurance_dc
