Should Non-Smokers have to pay for Cigarette Smokers Health Care ?

AMERICANS ARE OVERMEDICATED AND UNDEREDUCATED ! no my "mess" is that the same people who make the drugs that kill 200,000 people a year. will be in charge of my health care. my "mess" is that a country that lets people buy Cigaretts that kill 400,000 people every year. will be in charge of my healthcare. my "mess" is that the same company that takes taxes at mcdonalds for a bigmac.the same people will be in charge of putting me on medicine to fight the diabeties it gives me. A million people die every year in America and the government makes money off every one of them.
last but not least. BAXTER made h5n1(gaurdacil)
it killed 31 people and made 10,000 sick. they made money on the poison and the cure. or not ! why would they care. BAXTER is making h1n1 in china and russia! why ? so you cant sue them.
Lets Face it AMERICA DOES NOT QUALIFY FOR HEALTH INSURANCE> we are too sick and we do it to ourselfs.! we need a complete overhaul of the system.

america would be the healtiest country on the planet if we just made tobacco illegal. we dont need health care we need health police.just arrest people who smoke cigaretts; their fines could pay for everyone elses health care!

hard working people are covered. 85% of people who have insurance like it. the people who have money have good insurance. they get treated like kings when they get sick. they have never had to go to the ER and wait for 11 hours if they get a cold. they get the e pass at the hospital. do you expect eveybody to get treated like rich people ? i expect everybody to start getting treated the way the government has allways treated me. like shit.
do you think people with money are going to give up great treatment for them, so they can get equal treatment for everybody....that would make people with money wait in line with the rest of us to get on the only mra machine in town. bullshit. it will never happen.

what about the octomom ? i aint got no crumb-snatchers ! why should i pay for hers ? or anybody elses ?.

no, its telling me to F the republican plan which is a proven failure at this point, and adopt a new plan... in which I believe will work.

One that will actually keep our country healthy, and maybe we once again will have the best healthcare in the world, instead of this joke of a healthcare system.

then why in the world would you think that "this insurance" will be there for you when you need it ?
whats the fu(king difference. you paid all that money and
you know it wont do you any good ? so your logic tells you to buy some more insurance from the same company that ripped you off the first time.?
you should go to vegas..at least there you get free drinks ! ! !

funny, i pay for social security every month, they take A LOT out of my check.

Sadly, when I am old enough to reap the benefits of social security, it will be bankrupt.

Dang!

i have paid for life insurance all of my life. its called social security. they take a little bit of money out of my check every week. to make sure i get taken care of when i get old enough.

health of people who put poison in there body is not my responsibility.period. should i pay for dental insurance for meth-heads ?

1200 people die every day from smoking cigaretts. stop smoking cigaretts and take responsibility for your own actions.

Why should I have Health Insurance, but half the people I work with do not, they aren't legally required to have it. They come to work sick because they cannot afford Insurance, or they are just refusing to pay for it.

Now I get sick, pass it along to my family, and our premiums rise.

I think it is irresponsible not not have health insurance. I think it compromises the health of all, therefore you must have it. You don't have the right to risk the health of others.

I will be happy to pay for "MY" health insurance, and I am glad that soon EVERYONE will have to pay for THEIR health insurance. Cover there own Healthcare.

It is FAIR.

Would you rather sit and wait for smokers to get sick, and because they are denied insurance for being a smoker, have their debt and doctor bills be passed along to the taxpayer?

Get health insurance and pull your own weight.

If I have to pay for fat asses sitting on their couches all day, yes. They tax cigarettes and alchol, let's start taxing Big Macs. If my bad behavior is taxable, theirs should be too.

1,200 people die everyday from smoking cigaretts.
that is their choice. nobody forces them to do it.
(they are altered in a lab to keep you addicted)
but not forced.thats like going out and wrecking your car. and then knocking on my door and telling me i have to pay for your wrecked car. when you knew if you hit that telephone pole at 80 mph it would fu(k your car up.
i did not wreck my car ? why should i pay for yours ?.
i would rather spend my money doing maintenece to my car. changing the oil, keeping the air filter clean, make sure i use the best antifreeze..keep good tires on it. maybe some rims and a nice stereo!
thing is; its my money and my decisions.
i should not have to pay for tobacco addicts bad habits.!

Anti-Smoking related courses, patches, etc should be covered in full.
p.s.----Not sure what to do about the "snake eaters" in our midst,....out of my realm of exposure/experience.

Their premiums should be higher, as the "condition" is elective not genetic. Covered-YES,.....without a surcharge-NO.

Interesting question. Where does it end? How about paying for addicts? Willfully obese people? People whose diets bring on certain diseases? Botox and boob jobs?

This article is equivalent to asking "Should the healthy pay for the sick?"

If I don't drink, why should I pay for the healthcare of drinkers; or valium addicts, or obese people. Go find something else to whine about, like corporate greed and the military-industrial complex.

What a self-center, egotistical statement. That's an equivalent to a statement made by a former classmate, "Why should I care about Julius Caesar? He never made an impact in my life!" Mind you, I am quoting this guy.

If the world centered around YOU, by all means, have it done your way. But, reality has shown us that it's not. What happened to caring about others? What happened to helping others? Why is it always about "me me me me me?" Wah wah wah.

Delia The Artist,

I think your right. I would rather my money go to help others than to all the other wonderful programs the government spends money on. But I don't think it's the right thing to do.

Forced charity negates virtue. I would rather pick and choose to help people at my own will than for the government to decide it for me.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I'm happy to pay for the health of my fellow person no matter their "problem". I'm sure there are a lot worse things my taxes - and money in general - go towards.

insurance companies ask you if you smoke.
they ask if you are overweight
they ask if you are in good shape or bad shape.
they ask how old you are.
there are many variables they look at before they decide how much to charge you for insurance.
why should this mandatory insurance be any different ?

Well, I've eaten fried guinea pig in Peru, and sheep's balls in Morocco, and some very strange soups in the hills of Thailand, but no snakes so far.
But, to the implied point of the post, yeah, it's totally unfair we have to carry all the rest of the poor dumb slobs of the United States of Amnesia through insurance, when of course, they should be carrying, us, the far more sainted slobs, (or is that we?)
Hey, I've gotten so pure in the last few years I'm just a motion away from becoming a breathetarian and living on the pure oxygen at the wind-whipped entrance of a Himalayan cave.
Maybe the psycho right has a point here.
Let the smoking, heavy-drinking burger gobblers continue on merrily without insurance and let Darwinian consequences do their best to help right the planet.

Im A swimmer and I swim vigorously for ten hours per week. Should I have to pay for the health insurance of an overweight person that stuffs their face with McDonalds and can't gather the energy to get up to change a channel?

Cigarette hurt as much as over- eating. I dont mind paying for the health insurance but I'd rather pay for preventative treatment. Cigarettes should be taxed 60%, or however much it takes to pay for smokers' insurance. They should pay for themselves. That;d be more fair, I suppose.

Heh...I read that last post from BKsays and had no particular reaction...until the word "snakes" kind of echoed in the vast, empty cavern in my head. Is eating snakes really a vice...or is that a euphemism for some other unhealthy activity? I can't say that I have ever even had the opportunity to eat snake. I had some alligator when I was in New Orleans a few years back -- surprisingly good.

Snakes. Hmmmmm.

Smoking to me is as much as a vice as drinking or eating snakes or coffee. They all have serious health issues related to it but people still do it. Shit, deny it all you want but smoking weed fucks up your lungs as much as plain tobacco does. But i'm sure you weed smokers will defend it if people said should non weed smokers pay for health insurance of potheads. Everybody should be covered, no exception to the rule. I'm not a smoker at all but I defend the right to do so because it's freedom of choice.

BTW, people in poor health DO pay more for health insurance just like bad drivers.

If you exercise at least 3 times a week and don't eat fast or processed food, you have a bitch. In that case, however, I would like to stop paying to educate your snotty-ass kids. Oh wait, that means the average American will "educate" their own kids. Nevermind. I'll pay double!

Smokers DO pay for their own health care.

By the pack.

The cost of a pack of cigarettes is mostly taxes. My memeory for this is arund 1990, but at that time the manufacturing cost of a pack of cigarettes was 65 cents a pack. That can't have changed all that much. I doubt it's above a buck.

Even then if you recall that massive court settlement, most of the tobacco company profits are going to pay it and those payments are going to care for smokers.

Some of you may have seen the ad in the streamer for quitplan? "free smoking cessation help"? That's it Paid for by the settlement.

Should people that don't drive have to pay for the people's insurance that are adding pollution to the air? Life just isn't fair.

they dont give insurance to people who have too many wrecks ! they will refuse coverage if they know you will just have a wreck, and kill yourself ? we know if you smoke tobacco what will happen. 400,000 will die this year from TOBACCO ! ITS A FACT (google it)we should not give high risk people the same insurance that healthy people get. its not fair , America has a pre-existing condition,.TOBACCO ADDICTION I refuse to pay for it > insurance application denied

This is like asking: "should non-drivers pay taxes that fund roads?"

should a good driver have to pay for a poor drivers insurance,..no.......but we all know that we all suffer from a few idiots mistakes.

Smokers pay $10 a pack where I live. Most of it goes to taxes. They pay for their healthcare 3 times over.

it is a prevention issue, I'll pay for smokers if they will help my obesity. I blame calories and corn syrup and sitting on my dead azz during saturday morning cartoons.

But to answer your Question NO!

Should a smoker have to pay for the health care of a fat person?? Why does the FOOD that is making the U.S. fat not being taxed with a sin tax?? Why do I have the munchies so bad ??? I can go on if you would like??