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;)
"We need to pass this bill so you can see what's in it..." Nancy Pelosi proudly proclaimed.
Well, not too many Americans have been able to get through the 8,000 plus pages of that document, and we are now really beginning to pay for it.
According to an MSN Business News article, in addition to all of the new taxes and increases in healthcare and medicine we already know about and are dealing with, smokers are going to be subject to a penalty on their health care costs starting January 1, 2014. Yes, that is right. Americans are going to be penalized for engaging in a legal activity. Citizens who purchase individual policies, say someone who is self-employed or retired from a job that doesn't cover retirees, are going to be subjected to penalty payments of up to fifty percent of the cost of the policy.
"Obama administration officials declined to be interviewed for this article..." Gee, I wonder why?
For a 55 year old smoker, the penalty could be $4,250 a year. For a 60 year old it could be as much as $5,100 in addition to the premium. Way to go, Obamacare! Remember, you asked for it.
Smokers are being hit twice as hard, with taxes on the evil of tobacco increasing every year. What used to cost $2.00 a pack a few years ago now costs from $6.00-$8.00 or more. Americans who have smoked for years and are unable to kick the habit are going to be forced into the unenviable position of either going without insurance at a time when it is most needed, or sacrificing food and clothing in order to pay for their health care.
...'And the goal of Obamacare is to provide low cost health insurance to every American'... What a pile of horse----...
What else is hidden in this pile of bureaucratic falsehoods? A Twinkie penalty for obese Americans? How about a penalty for anyone else who enjoys a beer or glass of wine after work. If you are an obese smoker who enjoys a beer, you are going to really be in trouble! Obama's insanity continues... and You Asked for It!
http://money.msn.com/business-news/article.aspx?feed=AP&date=20130124&id=16034133
- Ron
D24 - ICRD
“So many people spend their health gaining wealth, and then have to spend their wealth to regain their health.” - A. J. Reb Materi
Latest Activity: Jan 25, 2013 at 10:10 AM
Hello Bull153,
Again, reality differs from you imagination here. In reality, individual and group policies charge a premium to smokers.
This has nothing to do with Obama and everything to do with how insurance works.
Life insurance polices charge more for smokers than non smokers.
Smoking is bad for you I like sin taxes they either correct the problem or they end up paying for the effects it has placed on the body that others should not have to pay for.
With Obamacare maybe they now can get the help they need to kick that bad smelly habit.
midwestgirl;
Yes, life insurance companies do charge more for smokers than non- smokers. They have for years. I know, I used to be a smoker. There is a huge difference in a 20% increase and a 50% increase, particularly when the increase targets seniors on Social Security and with fixed incomes. If these were financial institutions, they'd be accused of loan sharking.
I don't mind sin taxes, I pay for my indulgences. It is not a tax but a part of the Obama Healthcare plan that is supposed to make every American able to afford health care. I have to wonder what Nancy Pelosi and the others in Washington were thinking. Maybe they weren't thinking.
By the way, this is in no way a sin tax. Smokers already pay an outrageous amount in taxes for cigarettes and liquor. It is just another move by the Obama administration to tell people how to live their lives.
Cheers,
Randy
Doesn't the President sneak a smoked occasionally, or did he quit?
I hope he quit, it's a deadly habit ..
I know whenever I've looked online at supplemental insurance policies they all ask you 2 questions for certain what kind of health are you in (good, poor, other) and do you smoke (yes or no)
Hello rozemist,
ALL HEALTH INSURANCE does this. ALL OF THEM! Why would people want the Government brand of health insurance to act differently and give further subsidized insurance to smokers? The whole idea presented here that this is somehow discriminatory is absolutely hypocritical given this same groups position on substations and spending not to mention their position on Obamacare as a whole.
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