Changes in Private Health Care (Non Political)

[SeaCat]

Health Insurance companies have found a way to stick it to those getting Health Insurance. If you Smoke they can charge you more in your premium. This has been okayed legally. Their claim for this is because smokers use a higher amount of care than non smokers.

This has been instituted in my company. If you are a Tobacco user you are charged an extra $25.00 per pay period for the priveledge of having Health Insurance. (That's roughly an extra $650.00 a year.) A Tobacco user is defined as anyone who smokes Ciggarettes, Cigars, a Pipe or uses Smokeless more than once a month. Okay I can deal with this as every society needs it's Pariahs and Smokers are our Pariahs. Then I started thinking about it and listening even closer.

The way it is written in my companies Insurance Prospectus doesn't read Tobacco Users, it reads those with unhealthy or risky behaviors. So what is considered unhealthy or risky behaviors or lifestyles? Some of the rumblings I have been hearing are:

Obesity
Drinking Alchohol
Underweight
Unhealthy eating habits
High Impact Athletics
Dangerous Hobbies

This is making me wonder. Where does it end?

Cat

 

[rgraham666]

It ends when they can take your money and not have to give any of it back.

 

[oggbashan]

It isn't just Health Care - it is other insurance policies as well.

My own problems have been over house insurance. The postcode (zip code) for my town includes a few well-known areas that have problems with subsidence and/or flooding. Insurance companies used to have local sales people who knew their areas. They knew which houses/streets were at higher risk and which weren't.

But local sales people were expensive so the insurance companies used regional sales teams based many miles away. If a postcode had a few properties with a history of subsidence then ALL the properties in that postcode were given a heavy loading and excess rating for subsidence, even if that meant that 95% of the houses had a completely normal risk. It was introduced as "slight change in excess/waiver conditions" when some policies were renewed at the end of the year. The SLIGHT change meant that the householder, instead of paying the first £500 of any subsidence claim, now would have to pay the first £5000 or £10,000.

If a few properties in the postcode also had a history of flooding then ALL... rest of paragraph as above.

If the flooding caused subsidence, or the subsidence caused flooding - double the figures the householder had to pay.

It took me weeks to find an insurance company that was prepared to look at the REAL risk, and not the postcode risk. My insurance premium was 10% higher than I could have paid, but if I had claimed on the cheaper policy I would have had to pay the first £5,000, £10,000 or perhaps £20,000 instead of the £1,000 I'm now liable for.

Unfortunately Cumbria has suffered severe flooding this week. Recent experience from towns flooded a couple of years ago is that the friendly insurance companies are not as helpful as they claim they are and once everything is straight again, which takes far long than the worst estimate and costs far more than any insurance company will pay, the premiums for future cover against flooding will be impossibly expensive.

Heads you lose, Tails they win.

Og

 

[Zeb_Carter]

It's exactly where all healthcare "insurance" will end up being. If your not healthy you pay extra to get covered no matter who provides the health coverage. A private insurance company or the "public option" in the health care bill will all have that same clause about risky behavior.

The private insurance company are just jumping on the government band wagon early is all. Plus their costs due increase with the insureds behavior...whether it be eating themselves to an early grave or smoking. All insurance is based on actuarial principals of the mortality or morbidity of the group in question.

If you are a 35 yo male who doesn't smoke it is a medical fact that you will live longer than a 35 yo male that does. Those differences are reflected in life insurance premiums, annuity premiums and health insurance premiums and sometimes in auto insurance premiums.

Don't know what your complaint is, you control how you live your life. You can quit smoking, you can go on a diet, you can exercise and stop doing all those unhealthy things that cause you to be more of a risk, no?

 

[cloudy]

It's exactly where all healthcare "insurance" will end up being. If your not healthy you pay extra to get covered no matter who provides the health coverage. A private insurance company or the "public option" in the health care bill will all have that same clause about risky behavior.

The private insurance company are just jumping on the government band wagon early is all.

Bullshit. It's been that way for at least the last two decades. It certainly isn't anything new, and has no relation to the healthcare bill in the senate right now. I know this for a fact, since I'm a smoker, and paid for my health insurance through my work.

Nice try at scare tactics, though.

If you are a 35 yo male who doesn't smoke it is a medical fact that you will live longer than a 35 yo male that does.

This is bullshit, too. It is a medical risk you take by smoking, but it certainly isn't a "fact." My mother is 82, and has outlived a helluva lot of nonsmokers. So, no...it isn't a fact that a smoker will die before a nonsmoker. The risk of death is higher, sure, but it isn't a sure thing like you state.

 

[DeeZire]

...This is making me wonder. Where does it end?

Cat

If you're talking about taking responsibility for your actions, it ends when you die, which is sort of the ultimate in taking responsibility for your actions.

 

[SeaCat]

It's exactly where all healthcare "insurance" will end up being. If your not healthy you pay extra to get covered no matter who provides the health coverage. A private insurance company or the "public option" in the health care bill will all have that same clause about risky behavior.

The private insurance company are just jumping on the government band wagon early is all. Plus their costs due increase with the insureds behavior...whether it be eating themselves to an early grave or smoking. All insurance is based on actuarial principals of the mortality or morbidity of the group in question.

If you are a 35 yo male who doesn't smoke it is a medical fact that you will live longer than a 35 yo male that does. Those differences are reflected in life insurance premiums, annuity premiums and health insurance premiums and sometimes in auto insurance premiums.

Don't know what your complaint is, you control how you live your life. You can quit smoking, you can go on a diet, you can exercise and stop doing all those unhealthy things that cause you to be more of a risk, no?

Yep, you're right. I do control how I live and so do you.

Are you Over weight? (Undertall) Could you be under weight? (Over Tall) Both of these are documented health risks.

How's your diet? Do you eat meat? (Cholesterol, Insecticides and Herbicides picked up while grazing, Hormones, etc.) How about fresh fruits and vegetables? (Insecticides, Bacteria, etc.) Or maybe you eat fish? (Mercury among other heavy metals.) Shall I go on?

Do you live in the city? Why then you are breathing all sorts of nasty polutants that can affect your health. We won't even get into the crime and stress inherent in city living.

What's your excercise like? Do you just sit around? (High B/P and the possibility of blood clots.) Do you jog or run? (Damage to the knees as well as to the lower back.) Ride a Bicycle? (Road accidents.) Lift weights? (Muscle strains and lower back injuries.) Play Football, Soccer, Jai Alai, Tennis or any other sport? How about swimming?

Believe it or not I can find something in your lifestyle that is a verified health risk without even trying. The same for anyone and everyone. The Insurance companies know this. They are going to cash in on this. (Before you say they won't ask yourself what's stopping them from doing so?)

The competition? Do a bit of research. Just how many Health Insurance Companies are there in the United States that cover corporations. Then look at their offerings to the businesses. I think you'll be surprised at what you find.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Yep, you're right. I do control how I live and so do you.

Are you Over weight? (Undertall) Could you be under weight? (Over Tall) Both of these are documented health risks.

How's your diet? Do you eat meat? (Cholesterol, Insecticides and Herbicides picked up while grazing, Hormones, etc.) How about fresh fruits and vegetables? (Insecticides, Bacteria, etc.) Or maybe you eat fish? (Mercury among other heavy metals.) Shall I go on?

Do you live in the city? Why then you are breathing all sorts of nasty polutants that can affect your health. We won't even get into the crime and stress inherent in city living.

What's your excercise like? Do you just sit around? (High B/P and the possibility of blood clots.) Do you jog or run? (Damage to the knees as well as to the lower back.) Ride a Bicycle? (Road accidents.) Lift weights? (Muscle strains and lower back injuries.) Play Football, Soccer, Jai Alai, Tennis or any other sport? How about swimming?

Believe it or not I can find something in your lifestyle that is a verified health risk without even trying. The same for anyone and everyone. The Insurance companies know this. They are going to cash in on this. (Before you say they won't ask yourself what's stopping them from doing so?)

The competition? Do a bit of research. Just how many Health Insurance Companies are there in the United States that cover corporations. Then look at their offerings to the businesses. I think you'll be surprised at what you find.

Hey, I'm not complaining and I'm not agreeing, I'm just saying that the government sponsored healthcare plan has the same language in it and you'll have to put up with the same bullshit from them. Except, with the private insurance companies there is recourse via the courts and via revision of regulations through state insurance comptrollers, when the federal government is in charge there is not recourse. They can do anything they damn well please with absolutely no oversight.