Already, we are seeing changes in the worst legislation ever passed by Congress-that being ObamaCrapCare. In late May the Obama Administration passed new regs that allowed the plan to charge more those with high cholesterol or who were obese. In other words, most Americans over the age of 40 are going to be charged more premiums! So how long will it be until the "bright ones" in Washington decide that the cost of those with heart disease, kidney disease, alzheimers, etc etc are "not paying their fair share?" The regulations against pre-existing conditions will go out the window faster than your Aunt Millie's curtains in a tornado!Anyone who thinks that will not happen are either drinking the ObamaCrapCare propaganda or does not have their feet firmly grounded. This only will get worse. You can count on it.
Conservative Tom
Conservative Tom
Smoke? Overweight? New regulations could raise your insurance rates
If you smoke or you're overweight, have high cholesterol or high blood pressure, you could be forced to pay a lot more for health insurance, according to new regulations just issued by the Obama administration.
"For smoking, for being overweight, for being obese and basically, for generally not meeting the health guidelines, the employer can charge 30 percent more - for smoking, 50 percent more," explains John Goodman, President of the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas.
ObamaCare does prevent insurers from charging more for pre-existing conditions, or from charging as much as they currently do for older people who use more health care.
But when it comes to smoking and being overweight as well as other health problems, if employees don't participate in wellness programs, they could pay more.
Ed Haislmeier of the Heritage Foundation says "on the one hand they're trying to ban discrimination based on health status, but on the other hand they're trying to say that some discrimination based on health status is good discrimination."
Goodman adds that "it is definitely the nanny state trying to tell us what we're going to do, and unleashing the employers to be the agent of the government in telling us what we're going to do."
Smokers, of course, run up more health care bills than non-smokers. But that habit and some other unhealthy conditions are associated with lower incomes, so higher rates would hit those the administration was aiming to help.
"Allowing premium differentials based on these factors will push premiums higher primarily on people that will be struggling to pay the premiums in the first place," says Jim Capretta of the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
Many employers already offer wellness programs, but the new 123-page regulation tells them exactly how they must operate.
"This is just one more massive regulation on top of the thousands and thousands of pages that have already been issued that employers have to deal with," says Capretta. "I think the whole system is starting to choke on so many rules."
Ironically, on the day officials released the new regulations, a Rand Corporation study about wellness programs was released – and not with good news.
Goodman noted it was "a Rand Corporation study, which was paid for by the Obama administration, and called for in the affordable care act.
"And the Rand Corporation has studied wellness programs all over the country, and basically says they don't work."
In fact, the study found that those trying to lose weight in these programs lost an average of a pound a year. And although some employers offer gym memberships, those who take them are the ones using the gym already -- not those who need it most.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/31/smoke-overweight-new-regulations-could-raise-your-insurance-rates/#ixzz2ZPle6aHU
This is another distorted headline, Tom. The regulation is to provide an incentive to people who are smokers/obese to qualify for a discount by adopting a more healthy lifestyle. It is an opportunity for them to improve their health and save some money on premiums at the same time. It works like the "safe driver" discount you get on auto insurance by driving defensively and avoiding accidents/traffic violations. Do you have an issue with that for auto insurance, too?
ReplyDeleteAs far as your slippery slope argument goes, there is a clear distinction between preexisting conditions that one CAN control (smoking, weight) versus chronic conditions that cannot be corrected voluntarily by the individual. You gloss over that distinction.
--David
I was going to write my own piece against Rick Perry's horrible healthcare problems in Texas, but some journalist at the Texas Tribune beat me to it…
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/19/us/promoting-health-insurance-exchange-with-no-help-from-state.html?src=recg
Rick Perry is a hypocrite. He calls himself a "Christian," but won't allow others to help three million uninsured citizens get healthcare insurance -- many of whom would be getting it nearly free from government subsidies that won't cost of the state government anything for first three years and the federal government paying 90% thereafter. What did Jesus say? Something like, "Whatever you do for the least of my brethren, that you do unto me." Right? I wonder whether this "Christian" wonders whether he will someday have to answer to Jesus for the way he treats the poor in Texas. Instead, Perry's ideological stupidity will cost the state millions of dollars in costs in Medicaid and other costs associated with the state's poor health of its citizens. Why? Because this clown thinks he has a realistic chance of getting nominated for president in 2016. Hey, we can all still remember his comic act from 2012.
--David