Posted on 10/01/2009 11:10:43 AM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
The Senate Finance Committee approved an amendment to the healthcare bill Wednesday that would allow employers to charge workers with unhealthy lifestyles more for their insurance coverage.
The amendment, sponsored by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., and Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., permits employers to adjust premiums as much as 50 percent according to the level of workers’ health habits, up from 20 percent currently.
“Weight gain and unhealthy lifestyles that focus on smoking and lack of exercise have sky-rocketed our healthcare costs," Ensign said in a statement cited by Politico news service.
"These costs could be lowered by focusing on what makes us healthy -- through weight loss programs, smoking cessation and preventive care. Voluntary employee participation in these areas should naturally be reflected in lower healthcare costs.”
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
The eventual plan is to turn these people into food.
What the hells are republicans offering this kind of amendment for? They need to kill the whole f***** thing. Now.
No wonder Moore is upset!
I swear to god, people can eat twinkies and stay thin, others look at food and gain weight
and they want to tax the fat....
dr. zeke has plans to "monetize" the people.
So HIV is from a healthy life style.
The Gay Lobby will be up in arms.
Why the people of Delaware chose Tom Crapper over Bill Roth has NEVER made sense to me.
The man is sick and twisted.
Ha! I knew it! i m a publik scewl teechur. About a month ago I told my union pres, vice pres and secretary (obese, obese, smoker/obese) that I couldn’t wait for smokers and fatties to be refused obamacare. Yes! Now I have something to reference!
Adverse consequences from politically protected choices will get a pass.
Why pass an amendment when it is already a common practice for employers and insurance companies to charge fat people and smokers more for their premiums?
This is a good idea. Why should the rest of us subsidize people who impose more costs on the system? Without some measure to tie what you pay to what you receive, it’s another form of wealth distribution.
The Gay Lobby will be up in arms.
They are protected but how about the police, military, folks that fly or scuba dive, drive cars at night, hunt, use sharp objects, climb ladders.......?
Offering amendments that are not likely to pass is a tactic to slow down a piece of legislation.
Since the majority of adults in this country are either overweight or obese and about 30% smoke, do they realize they just signed the death warrant on ObamaCare?!
EXCELLENT illustration!
bookmark
Hmmm...WHO defines “overweight”?
While in the USAF, (1972) a fellow Sergeant was 6’-3”, 205 lbs., and was so fit, bullets would bounce off of him.
Following the annual fitness weigh-in, he was placed on the “fat-man” program, cuz “that’s what the chart said”.
I suggested he visit the Base Commander, but Race-relations, being what they were back then, he opted to lose the 6 lbs. instead.
Soylent Green.
Eventually what Govt wants to do is monitor everyone..and everything. Most of the science academic institution are already trying to number/tag every creepy crawly thing on the planet..why not with people? They already do to an extent with your income tax, social security, death taxes, and soon we will have “breathing” taxes in the form of carbon credits..if you hold your breath X amount of minutes per day you MAY get a tax relief! LOL
I wish I was kidding.
OK tell me WHY we as a country EVER admitted the following states into the union: AZ, NV, UT, CA OR, WA, NM, HI... what of any have these “states” ever done for the US that we couldn’t have done if they were retained as a territory?
Why stop there?
Go after the homosexuals and the drunkards as well.
I would bet good money on them any amendments/laws that allow one to have a cold beer after a hard day’s work.
The real money savings will come from charging homosexuals a commensurate rate.
My husband's former employer's policy had discounts for certain habits, or lack there of. Even though we both smoked, and were honest about it, our premiums were actually lower than some of his coworkers who couldn't get many of the discounts that we received.
so, you do *nothing* unhealthy?
i agree on killing it...just need for the definition of ‘it’ to be clarified...seems to be a whoooooooole lot of its these days...
The senator is correct.
Auto insurance companies charge higher premiums for those who have received tickets and those who have been in accidents.
Home owners insurance companies charge higher premiums to those who live in hurricane or earthquake zones.
So, it would be consistent and justifiable for insurance companies to impose higher premiums to those that smoke or do not have the discipline to control their weight.
They don’t want to pay for hip replacements to get folks mobile again, so they are going to charge them more because they gained some weight since they can’t exercise without pain and/or had steroids injected which caused the weight gain? That’s screwed up. Guess I better get my hip done while I can under my private insurance before they run them out of business.
I don’t disagree. I think that if people have to pay for their health care they might start taking their eating, exercise, etc. habits more seriously (and if still not, if they’re paying for it that’s fine too). That’s still not the system we have today and at this point, I like incremental steps in that direction.
If they taxed stupidity, there would be no deficit. The Dhimmirats would generate record revenues!
What’s the matter with that? The only thing preventing employers and insurers from doing this already is unConstitutional interference by government in private contracts.
by BMI charts, just about every pro athlete is obese.
Ensign...needs to be gone.
If he doesn't have the smarts to figure out the "slippery slope" that is...HE NEEDS TO GET OUT OF OFFICE!
I'm guessing some folks have plans for Dr. Zeke, too. Plans that he won't enjoy.
>> “Weight gain and unhealthy lifestyles that focus on smoking and lack of exercise have sky-rocketed our healthcare costs,” Ensign
Certainly, we’re not talking about strippers because they get plenty of aerobic exercise.
Will Las Vegas outlaw ciggies, sticks, and booze so the savings can be diverted to cover the members of the service industry who are currently without their ‘right’ to coverage?
Yes, that's right. Being gay has certain risks too and can certainly be regarded as a lifestyle.
I can't wait to see all the fat gay and lesbian smokers take to the streets in protest because they can't afford insurance under the government plan that requires them to have insurance and then fines them for not be able to afford it to begin with.
While I disagree with the entire premise, do a “cap and trade” at the grocery store checkout. For every gram of transfat or saturated fat you buy, you pay some percentage extra.
Easy enough to acomplish: the nutritional info is right on the back of the package and could be put into the bar code.
That way its not targeted to “fat people” its targeted to fat eaters.
But it ain’t none of their business.
Well okay. But don’t complain about big government then.
(Might also want to change your moniker from “Conservatism” to “Nanny-Stater”.)
You are misnamed.
What about the Queer lifestyle. HIV is healthy, AIDS is healthy. No. It looks like the Queers will be paying the 50% more for health care. When you toot the flute you must pay the flute.
Just think of the myriad of activities that a human being can get hurt, sick or maimed....and because that wrongful or reckless activity impacts on "the government's budgets", they will now be in a legal position to tell you to stop.
It all started with mandatory helmets for bicycles...and now we can't send a kid to school with a peanut butter sandwich. Don't get me started, or I'll start in on not being allowed to put bug spray on our lawns, because some kid might walk on it and get sick. Or let me tell you about........argh, the list is endless!
Put a tax on Michelle’s ass!
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