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How does smoking affect your insurance ?

By Sil

"Smoker costs more so a smoker should pay more"

They say, “People who smoke a pack a day die 7 years earlier on an average, than people who have never smoked.” In fact, it has been assessed, that smoking of cigarette leads to one in five deaths in United States. In the last few years, cigarette smoking has resulted to more than 400,000 death every year.

Smoking causes complex diseases like, stomach ulcers, heart attack, cancer (in particular lung cancer) as well as chronic obstruction in airway. In fact, if we overlook the number of adult deaths caused due to secondhand smoking, you would notice that the life expectancy of people has reduced to around 13 to 14 years. Smokers take around eight more sick days annually than the non-smoking co-workers do. This costs employers and business lots and lots per year.

Compare insurance budget for Smokers and Non smokers

• Smokers pay more on life insurance premium owing to the risk of dying younger.
• Some companies might charge a smoker more on the home insurance premium because a smoker run a higher risk in burning the house accessories.
• Sometimes companies demands higher premium for auto insurance because the smokers tend to drive casually and recklessly.
• Health insurance companies charge more from the smokers. They run a greater risk of making insurance claims.

How much hidden cost do you bear on smoking?

• Smoking decreases your house value, as it always smells of smoke.
• Smoking decreases your value of possessions, this might lead you to pay more for you condominium insurance.
• Smoking might reduce the resale value of your car. The insurance companies consider the smokers to be reckless drivers.
• The money that you on cigarettes is a sheer wastage, had you saved that it might have counted to your interests.
• Too much of smoking leads you to start paying more on medicines.
• Smoking increases the cost of cleaning vehicle, clothes, house etc.
• It also increases the cost of dental care.

How does the fatal effects of smoking harm your health insurance cost?

However, if you consider the cost of smoking, you would find that smoking costs up to $167 billion every year and $75 billion in direct medical expenses. Thus, every year more than $3400, costs for health insurance coverage and lost productivity for every smoker. Naturally, this gears up the unexpected rise in the health insurance cost.

It has been further deduced, that while each smoker is paying $5 per pack, the same pack of cigarette costs nearly $40 for the society. The smoker not only causes harm to himself but also to the entire atmosphere. The poisonous effect of the smoke spreads at random in the entire atmosphere causing dangerous effects. Consequently, the passive smokers, i.e. the non-smokers are bound to face the consequences of smoking and end up in suffering from serious diseases. Therefore, you can say that each cigarette packet in US costs $40 for health care cost (considering both, a smoker and a non smoker). Then can you tell me, why a non-smoker should agree to pay the same insurance premium like that of a smoker, who has an additional 90% possibility to claim reimbursement?

I believe it is unjustified, both from insurance business point of view as well as from the insurance buyers point of view.

1.Business point of view:

Almost all the insurance premiums are set on the basis of the intensity of risk of the claims. More is the risk for the company to make reimbursement, higher would be the premium amount charged by them. In case of long term care, the company charges premium on the basis of the risk of reimbursement they would have to bear on the person. So, more is the chance for you to claim reimbursement, higher would be the premium amount. But in case of health insurance, if the company runs a higher risk with the smokers than that of the non smokers why should they charge same premium form both ?

2.Buyer's point of view:

The active smokers cause deadly effect to the society. The poisonous effect of the cigarette may cause serious problems to the passive smokers. And this causes a substantial increase in the health insurance premium cost. So, how can the non smoker afford such unjustified and high health insurance cost ?

A non-smoker may suffer from lung cancer. An active smoker may also get affected to it for the same reason. In this case, though a non-smoker would make claims for his health insurance premiums like that of an active smoker, but the active smoker is the one who, is to be held responsible. So, can you deny that the insurance companies are at greater risk with smokers?

Every single puff of cigarette you inhale, your blood pressure increases. Then, how much would the packet full of cigarettes harm you? Can you assess the extent of damage that the deadly cigarette causes to you over one whole year?

All these together have led to a considerable rise in the health insurance premium. And this has led to disastrous condition of the health insurance market. About 40% of the US population does not have a health insurance plan today. 50% of them do not pay their health insurance premium. This is a major cause for the raging controversy regarding “Should smokers pay more for health insurance?” What do you say? They feel if the smokers are causing such harm to the society they should pay more for the health insurance cost.

Cigarette smoking as a curse

Diseases caused due to smoking

• Stomach ulcers
• Coronary disease and heart attack
• Raises your blood pressure and heart rate and decreases the blood flow. Due to low blood flow to the legs, a smoker may develop peripheral vascular disease.
• Respiratory diseases like chronic bronchitis or pneumonia.
• Stimulates your brain and nervous system activity.
• Results in weakening your immunity power. As a result, people who smoke more develop more of cold and flu than that of non-smokers.
• Cause impotency in men, and women less fertile.
• Passive smoking results to cancer in different parts of the body: as in the lung, mouth, bladder, kidney, pancreas, cervix, stomach, throat or even leukemia.

Thus, you cannot deny that smoking not only causes immense harm to your health but also increases your insurance premium cost. And the other dangerous effects of smoking is incomparable. The satanic effects of smoking becomes unrepairable at times.

So, despite the fact that the tobacco industry is enhancing the growth of the entire economy, it should be banned. What do you feel?

Smokers causes high risk. To overcome such risky situation some insurance companies have introduced more premiums on the smokers, be it life insurance or health insurance. Such companies feel “Non smokers have 25 times less risk from the ones who smoke 25 cigarettes a day”.