Community Corner

POLL: Will Obamacare Tobacco Surcharges Backfire?

Instead of driving people to quit smoking, will premium surcharges cause smokers to forgo coverage altogether?

Under Obamacare, smokers can be charged as much as 50 percent more for health insurance than non-smokers. Part of the rationale behind the surcharge is that smokers are a high-risk population to cover and, as a result, should pay more. The other argument is that if smokers have to pay more for coverage, they will be incentivized to quit.

But what happens if smokers just decide to do without health insurance coverage and keep smoking?

Since 19 percent of American adults smoke, a significant portion of the population could decide to remain uninsured due to high costs, particularly lower income smokers. According to the CDC, 29 percent of adults who live below the poverty level smoke. Reuters reports not only will those lower-income smokers be faced with higher premium charges, but also federal subsidies will not apply to the smokers' premium.

Smokers can avoid the surcharge by enrolling in a smoking cessation program, but the American Lung Association (ALA), among others, questions the efficacy of that incentive.

"We believe smokers should be helped to quit, but not punished for not doing so," ALA lung policy manager Jennifer Singleterry told USA Today. "People don't usually quit when they're forced to, they quit when they're ready."

Do you think smoking surcharges are an effective way to convince people to stop smoking? Will the surcharges result in more smokers being uninsured? Leave a comment or vote in our poll. Note: This is not a scientific poll. It is for entertainment purposes only.

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