Insurance and Obesity

There is a debate raging among insurance companies. Who should pay for the obesity epidemic in the United States? Many insurance companies require smokers to pay a premium such as $10 or $20 per paycheck. I've read articles recently that indicate this may soon be required of people who are morbidly obese as well. I'm not sure how I feel about this type of policy. I'm not certain that it has helped Americans quit smoking. I think education and new smoking cessation products have done far more to help people quit. How would I feel is my insurance company required me to pay this extra money due to my weight? Would that kind of policy motivate me to try and lose weight? I think they have much to figure out before attempting to put something like this in place. For instance: will it be based on BMI? Is it simply "obese" (in which case I'll have to pay as I'm still classified as obese)? Or will it be morbidly obese or super morbidly obese? What about people that are on medication that causes them to gain weight? That just doesn't seem fair to them at all. Does this mean that all of those insured under the policy will need a physical to determine health? I do know one thing. If insurance companies begin requiring participants to pay a premium due to obesity, they MUST also cover weight loss surgeries!!! What do you think? Hugs, Stephanie

Stephanie, I don't think it will ever fly. The main reason is that there are such a high percentage of folks that are considered obese or over weight. The masses wouldn't go for such a thing, at least in my opinion. On the other hand obesity is one of the last accepted predujices, so maybe it would fly. I don't know. I would like to think that this would lead to a greater approval of insurance of WLS though. Have a great day, Rick

Rick, I tend to agree with you. It's not likely that a policy like this would work. Time will tell. Hugs, Stephanie

I think the premium on cigarettes is differnet. People chose to smoke. Most people do not chose to be overweight. The BMI charts are based on avg American stats from the 60's and 70's. The government has not updated them.