After 2013, Law Limits Surcharges for Health Insurance
So fit people can expect their premiums to rise
The 69 percent of American adults who are overweight or obese and the 19 percent of us who smoke pay more for health insurance because of the risks associated. People with a body mass index of 30 or higher, considered obese, pay on average 22 percent more to buy health insurance in the individual market, according to data (PDF) released this week by eHealthInsurance.com, based on more than 200,000 policies sold through the online brokerage for 2012.
Tobacco users pay an extra 14 percent, though women who smoke pay even more: an extra $44 a month on average, or 22 percent more than nonsmokers.
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?