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Babies: 9 - 12 Months
s/o Weight talk- do you agree with higher insurance rates
for obese individuals? What about smokers? Stunt-men?
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Re: s/o Weight talk- do you agree with higher insurance rates
I think if it should be determined if the risk is within the persons control. I am fat because I ate 2 doughnuts for breakfast. It is a choice and not a healthy one. So is smoking and so is choosing a dangerous profession.
My Mom has thyriod disease, it causes her to be overweight. Not a choice.
Yes to all, especially smokers and stunt men because those are obvious choices. Obesity can be debated to be choice-related, but that is a can of worms that I am not sure I want to open (though I may just have done so).
Sometimes it does make me raise my eyebrows when I hear about all the health problems my overweight coworkers have to deal with. It is a substantial difference.
this...
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Personally, I am overweight (still working on it), I was obese until I did something to change it. I actually think higher rates might be a good idea for obese people (without medical reasons to be obese). Maybe that would help this country out of the obesity pandemic by giving people one more reason to lose the extra pounds.
Yes. I do. And I'm obese. I cost more. Period. Would I LIKE to pay more? Heck no. But I'm an adult and need to be prepared for the consequences of my behavior. I think children should be charged more, too. Insurance is a business and like any other business, they need to make money.
Interesting thing about smoking--there used to be a statistic running around out there (Not sure if it's still true) that smokers actually cost LESS in the end because they die sooner...I wonder if this is the same for the obese, as well. In which case, I want a discount. HAHAHAHA
If its self inflicted, such as poor diet, lack of exercise, etc, hell yea they should pay a higher insurance premium IMO. My sister and a few of my cousins suffer from thyroid conditions which cause them to be overweight which is different. Though my sister is still overweight she is trying her damndest to lose the weight and is taking two medications to help her do so and I'm SO proud of her for it. My cousins use their thyroid problems as an excuse to eat and be lazy. Not cool.
Smokers should DEFINTELY pay more. There are so man health issues that arise from smoking and its unfair for people who try to live healthy lives to pay for them to kill themselves slowly. This is coming from me who used to smoke pre pg. NEVER AGAIN.
I would probably agree if it is 100% choice, like smoking, but I also think that methods for quitting smoking should be covered. In my opinion, it has to be all or nothing. Being overweight/obese is not 100% choice; therefore, people should not be penalized for it. By the same token, I also think health insurance should provide better coverage for weight loss programs and exercise, as people are trying to GET healthy. For example, I wish my insurance company would help me pay for Curves or WW. I would love to do Nutrisystem as tehy really worked for me once before, but I can't afford it.
Children should NEVER be charged more for health insurance. I don't care if it's the parents' fault if they are overweight. There are enough children in this country without coverage, and we do not need parents dropping their children from insurance because they can't afford it. When I was teaching, I knew some of the poorest families were overweight. It was expensive and time consuming to eat healthy, and they couldn't afford it nor did they have time to fix such meals working more than one job.
I have heard that myth as well, but never seen it substantiated in any actual news articles or studies. Smokers may die sooner (on average), but they suffer more illness during their lifespan. Dying from lung cancer instead of old age certainly outweighs an extra decade of regular physical checkups.
I guess it never occured to me that parents would drop their kids...good point. I struggle with all of this, though, because I do belive that insurance companies need to be allowed to make a profit as any other business is. And the more we make things "required", the less they can make. And it IS a business. But there are also many things I think should be covered. KWIM?
But I totally disagree that eating healthy is expensive or time consuming.