Great Britain: Life insurers to impose 'fat tax' on the obese, costing up to 50 per cent more

The Daily Mail (U.K.) ^ | February 22, 2008 | BECKY BARROW

[Stoat]

Translation Assistance:

stone - definition of stone by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

pl. stone Abbr. st. A unit of weight in Great Britain, 14 pounds (6.4 kilograms).

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Here's a convenient BMI calculator for us Yanks...just type in your height and weight and press "compute BMI"

Calculate your BMI - Standard BMI Calculator

[neodad]

I would assume they always factor weight into their premiums. Along with smoking, blood pressure, pre-existing conditions, etc.

[DaveMSmith]

[BruceS]

Seems perfectly reasonable to me for a PRIVATE business to base their rates on risk. My problem is when government gets involved.

[Stoat]

My problem is when government gets involved.

Mine too, and we may be looking toward exactly that scenario if HillaryCare or Hussein-ObamaCare gets shoved down our throats.

[flowerplough]

Perfectly reasonable to me, too, for a business to base their rates on risk.
Anyone heard what they’ll now be charging admitted gays for life insurance?

[expatguy]

How much longer before being fat becomes a protected class?

An American Expat in Southeast Asia

[Wissa]

My problem is when government gets involved.

The way the government usually gets involved in situations like this is to require that the insurance company charge the same rates for everyone, and to sue companies like McDonalds and Frito-Lay.

[weegee]

Try factoring risks like same sex sodomy or frequent anonymous sexual encounters while using drugs and no condoms. The Lavender Mafia will tell you that is forbidden.

[ThisLittleLightofMine]

and what about smokers and homosexuals, anorexics, people who engage in sex with multiple partners? Does their lifestyle pose no additional risk?

[mamelukesabre]

There’s all kinds of things they could factor into their rates. Simple things like working the night shift vs working 8 to 5 make a difference. THen there is race and gender and religion and ethnicity.

[Skywalk]

Indeed. I applied for insurance through healthinsurance.org and thought I had a really good premium for an excellent plan with great coverage.

Well, I get my brochure and info and they are charging me like 20 bucks more. I was told that I rated as obese for being 217 lbs (I’m no bodybuilder but I put on a significant amount of muscle and would appear to be in relatively good shape to any casual inspection.) The rep had no ability to change anything and since then I’ve not had insurance because I’m not paying extra money because I’m in BETTER shape and stronger than I was before.

By BMI standards the entire NFL, damn near, is obese or overweight. Stupid. I believe even Darrell Green would have qualified at 5-8 for being overweight (185 lbs)

[BBell]

Imagine that. A Fag tax.

[Skywalk]

It SEEMS reasonable but as I stated to neodad in my reply to him, the BMI measurement without a visual confirmation is absolutely stupid to use as a metric for obesity.

I’m 220 lbs and even if I lost weight and looked ripped, I’d still be above 200 lbs and 5-10 or so. By that standard I’d be overweight or even obese if I was still around 208, I think.

Should someone built like a linebacker or with denser bones (my mom’s side of the family has very dense bones and I believe I was heavier even when I was VERY skinny because of that) be charged more even if they’re LESS fat than people who weigh less?

They should either require someone to get a body fat measurement or allow agents to do a visual verification in case they’re dealing with Lou Ferigno, not Fat Lou from the delicatessan.

[Stoat]

Imagine that. A Fag tax

[weegee]

Wait until they tax, er assess you more for having a gun in the home.

[Gabz]

If you reread the article you will see that smokers already ar charged more, so please do not put them in the same category as homosexuals or those who are promiscuous who are not included.

[Verloona Ti]

Oh, no! I’m 18.8. I don’t wanna be average, I wanna be thin. I gotta lose 4 lbs to be under 18.5! Noooooooooooo!

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Don’t know about the Brits, but when I was selling insurance 40 years ago they charged rates based on height and weight and employment, and some health questions. For larger policies they asked a LOT of health questions. If they didn’t like the answers, or for older people and larger policies they sent you for a medical exam. Sometimes two exams with different doctors. They did credit checks, too. For really large policies they sent out folks to ask previous employers and neighbors about the applicants life style. All of this information would go back to the home office underwriters, who would accept or decline the application, and charge the expected premium or ‘rate it up’ (charge more). If the reason for rating up or declining to issue was health related, the reason would be sent to the applicant’s personal doctor. If it was ‘lifestyle’ they wouldn’t say what the reason was. (One agent in my office lost a huge commission, and by persistence at the home office found out that his client was a Mafia member). If someone lied on his application the policy is 'incontestable' after two years, even for fraud, and the company has to pay.