You made an excellent post!
The thing that I seem to be missing is that the "firing" excuse had to do with insurance costs. If the smoker pays their own private policy that is independent of the group plan then it would seem that the employers' reason is SOL.
This insurance costs is something I don't get. Each employee costs the same, there is no requirement by insurance to disclose smoking or drinking or anything else.
Life insurance does, but not health. Co-pays also are the same.
"You made an excellent post!"
*blushes* thanks! I've been thinking about it. I'm sorry I missed you before, I tried to answer everyone who posted, before I logged off.
As for this:
"The thing that I seem to be missing is that the "firing" excuse had to do with insurance costs. If the smoker pays their own private policy that is independent of the group plan then it would seem that the employers' reason is SOL."
And that is a great question. Like someone earlier said, they must have lawyers working on the case and yeah, if the smoker is paying the policy, or perhaps paying for extra benefits on a group policy, that really cuts into the employer's case.
Let me just interject some personal experience here. When I lived in the country of my birth, the U.S.A. (Thank GOD!), I never had trouble getting an appointment to see a doctor when I was sick. You get sick, you call up, you're seen that day or the next. No lengthy waiting for CAT scans or MRIs.
Well, I have had five years, almost, to experience state-run health care. Problems? Let me count the ways:
1. There are no new family doctors to be found, so people cant' make an appointment, they have to go to walk-in clinics where they wait for hours.
Where have the doctors gone? They have either retired... which will happen en masse very soon, or, the younger ones have gone to the United States, where they can make a living wage.
And this is especially true where I live, in the province of Quebec.
Just a couple of weeks ago, two experienced, capable nurses in Montreal were fired from their jobs at an English-speaking hospital. These women spoke French just fine, and by all accounts they were great nurses. Sadly, they failed A GRAMMAR QUESTION in their French test.
Anyone who is English-speaking by birth and tries to learn a romance language (French, Italian, Spanish), knows how hard the grammar is.
But because they made an incorrect "accord" between the verb and the noun, they were fired or laid off, if memory serves. I'll have to get a source.
To make a long story short... Canada is headed for disaster in terms of its health care system.
Now, I think everyone can agree that we don't want people, like the guy in Colorado who shot a nail in his head, to have a $100K bill for surgery. I guess this man didn't have insurance (either that or his insurance didn't cover for accidents happening during periods of extreme absentmindness or drunkeness..;)...)
So, these costs have to be paid. But it is not fair to intrude on people's personal lives like that.
2. I mentioned an example before about an employee making a destructive website. Now I think I've made a solid distinction.
Smoking is a personal behavior, not *intended* to hurt the company. Whereas if someone makes a website harmful to the company, well, there is intent.
Personal behavior, as long as it is not "intended* to harm the company, should be protected.
3. Long waiting lists.
I will post on this again tomorrow, but you know, last fall my family physician thought I might have sleep apnea. I kept waking up with my throat "closing." He wanted me to sleep a night in a clinic to have a test.
Guess how long that would take here? ONE YEAR.
I called Northwestern University in Chicago (where I grew up)--I could have had a test within a day or two.
There is a child in New Brunswick or one of the other Eastern Provinces of Canada who has already lost a kidney to cancer. This little boy is two and a half years old. How long until he gets an MRI? A year and a half, maybe two years.
I could go on... if anyone wants a source for these stories, which I heard on talk radio, I will find them.
This is because it's the government that distributes resources, not the market. There are gaps with the market, but experience has shown it is the best way to respond to people's needs.
Boy, have I gotten off topic, or what? !
I have to log off again b/c I have kids to get to bed. I was just so curious to see what, if anything, people said, that I came back here.
'night, all!
I welcome your input and hope to talk tomorrow.