Land of the Free

[bcoop]

Nah man, not when you've already got it full of toys!

completely off topic still, but you're doing it wrong if you can't tool around in the garage for an afternoon without spending any coin.

Sorry Brent, but your statement is dumb. I work for a company of 53,000. We all pay the same for health and life, therefore I'll assure you that we non-smokers are paying extra for the smokers.

I assure you, that you are in the minority. Every company I've wet worked for (and it's been a lot), smokers pay higher premiums. Let's see your complaining about fat people. Oh, wait. You aren't crying about that.... But they have increase costs as well. Or let's talk about drinkers. Do you drink? Higher premiums with the large majority of alcoholics, ad these days, even social drinkers. There's a million and one reasons to increase premiums. Consider yourself lucky. The majority of Americans pay higher premiums for all of thy, plus some.

You can blame smokers for whatever you want. If all the smokers went away, it would be due to air pollution around here, if that went away it would be due to the heat....etc...etc...etc

Hell, I'm sure they'd figure out a way for people who are too skinny, too fat, go to the gym too much.

I agree that smoking is a health risk 100%. I don't agree that it makes a damned bit of difference in health care costs.

Ding ding ding. Someone gets it. Someone else does not. You just want to complain because you don't like smokers. Admit that, and I'll drop it.

[Forever_frost]

This is bullshit and just adds one more reason to the list of why America is dying. Girl scouts can't sell cookies anymore, kids can't sell lemonade. No praying in school. The word GOD is now removed from songs about our country. I wonder how long before someone proposes a tax on the AIR we breathe and actually comes up with a way to measure it.

Guess you didn't hear about Cap and Tax

[Chas_svo]

I'll admit I don't like smokers, but you're in flat denial if you believe that Americans smoking doesn't cost us all more for health care. I would agree 100% that overweight people are almost in the same group, but not all of them stink as bad as smokers. And I'm pretty certain that our collective shitty diets from our parents to our kids will have some of the same effects, but again, if you looked at me you would not know that I do not eat well. 5' 11' 185 lbs.

But don't worry, O'bummer got it "fixed" already.

[mschmoyer]

When smokers pay inflated healthcare premiums because they are a smoker, how exactly does that affect your premiums?

Don't be a dumbass.

It's not hard math. Your insurance company is going to insure 500 people. 300 of them smoke. It doesn't take a genius to figure out how many claims you'll be forking out in the near future. It's reflected in the premium they bid to the company for everyone...

Everybody pays the same premium here...single, married, married with kids are your choices. If you sign a form that says you do not smoke, they send you a $20 check or something. Yay...