It is WRONG to Charge Large People More for Insurance

[spinbaby]

I was really struck by this blog. My company's insurance doesn't charge extra for being fat, but costs go up every year and I can see them going that way.

An excerpt:

So I went to a friend who I know is charged $50 per month extra for her insurance. I asked her how it works. For her company if her BMI is over a certain number OR if her BP/Cholesterol/Glucose does not meet a certain standard, she is charged $50. She meets the BP/Cholesterol/Glucose standard but her BMI is too high so she gets charged.

The problems with this?

The tests are correlational at best, and in some cases known to be inaccurate – skewed against the employee
Nobody can prove that their method of dieting sustains long-term weight loss
Dieting and weight cycling can be much more detrimental to health than being obese
Whether you call it additional premium for large employees or “incentives” for small employees, companies and their insurance plans are penalizing their employees for not doing something that nobody can prove is possible, for a reason that nobody can prove is valid, with a probable outcome of leaving their employees less healthy than they were when they started.

http://danceswithfat.wordpress.com/2010/08/30/it-is-wrong-to-charge-large-people-more-for-insurance/

[mediaman007]

1. Answer: Single Payer

[daleanime]

2. But that answers the wrong question.....

the question is not what is the single best move for Americans health and debt, the question is what is the best way to continue generating record profits?












:sarcasm: Just encase it's needed.

[hlthe2b]

3. There are those who will justify this...

but there are few who do not NOW fit in a risk group that the Insurance Thieves can devise: too fat, too young (premature birth), too old, live in an area with too much violent crime, live too far from a tertiary health care facility, female gender (might have a costly pregnancy, ya know), and on and on and on...

I am trying to be optimistic that this health care bill that we fought for so hard, will make a dent, but I am fearful it will simply mean the opening (and exploitation) of new loopholes to make it nearly impossible for millions of Americans to receive health care (or at least to do so without bankrupting themselves).

[spinbaby]

4. But fat people are such an easy group to target

There are so many of them and the insurance companies can always claim that it's their own fault they're fat. I love this quote from the link, "...the other 99.983% of people clearly just lacked self-control."

[lumberjack_jeff]

5. Is it okay to charge men more for car insurance? n/t

[Travis_0004]

6. Do large people cost more money?

The answer is yes. They should be charged more. I am a bit curious on what BMI they start the 50.00 charge.

Its the same reason I don't have a problem with charging smokers more.

The fact is being overweight is unhealthy, and for 95% of the poeple that are overweight, they can control their weight. It may not be easy, but its possible.

[danceswithfat]

8. Your statistics source?

Actually, per the research in the blog only .017% of people were able to lose weight on a long term basis. I'm happy to have a discussion about statics but I'm not sure of your source. You may be thinking of several studies that showed that 95% of people gain back as much or more weight than they lost within five year. There is information about that here: http://healthread.net/why-dieters-regain-leibel.htm

[Travis_0004]

10. We didn't have a huge obesity problem 50 years ago

Our bodies have not radically changed, we are simply eating more and exersizing less. Maybe .017 people DO keep their weight off, but that doesn't mean that only .017 people CAN keep the weight off. If they fall back into their old habbits and eat more calories, then of course they will regain the weight. I realize there are a lot of people that have a hormone imbalance, or some other factor that causes them to be overweight, but I refuse to believe that applies to 99.9% of people.

[danceswithfat]

12. Still not evidence

I appreciate and respect your opinion but "I refuse to believe..." is not evidence and your opinion is unsupported by the science (especially the idea that eating less and exercising more leads to weight loss). As obesity wasn't measured 50 years ago and was measured on a very different scale even 20 years ago we do not actually have an apples to apples comparison from which to draw even the opinion in your subject line. A lot of this is covered in the blog - not sure if you read it and disagree or just didn't read.

[bkozumplik]

14. oh please n/t

[eridani]

15. Yeah, right. Charge old people more too

Fuck this bullshit. It is more expensive to fuck around with extracting more money from people for arbitrary reasons that is is to just put everyone in one big risk pool. It is avoiding those likely to get sick that makes useless shitstain insurance compamies into mass murderers.

Only stupid people would want to make stamps more expensive for people who live in rurual areas or have dogs in the household. Investigating such idiotic crap would cost more than any conceivable savings.

[eridani]

22. Who gives a flying ;fuck?

Only sociopathic apologists for private insurance, that's who. No one who is more expensive for any reason should be charged more, and that includes fat people, smokers, women, black people, people with pre-existing conditions and old people. One risk pool for all is the chapest, period.

[Radical Activist]

7. Pretending that there aren't serious health consequences to being overweight

is delusional and dangerous. Horrible blog.

[eridani]

16. There are serious health consequences for being old instead of young

--and for having babies instead of just fertilizing eggs.

Fuck all you sociopathic shitstains who want to kill off the sick! Put everyone in one big risk pool and be done with it.

[flvegan]

9. Plus there's no scale.

If someone with weight, etc issues (plus I've heard some having to pay a premium if they smoke) gets charged more, how much of a discount does the same insurance company give non-smoking vegans of healthy weight? Shouldn't "penalize" what you find bad without discounting what would be of benefit.

I fear we'll see more of this as time goes on

[tammywammy]

11. BMI isn't a good indicator

Someone could have a higher BMI score merely due to more muscle.

[justabob]

13. I know a couple

who pay extra for the guy being too large and pay extra for the woman being too petite. They get it coming and going. It is insane.

[eridani]

17. Black people are at more risk for illness than white people

Let's just charge them more. So are people with pre-existing conditions.

[sendero]

18. BMI...

.. is a joke metric that means nothing. If that is the criteria I agree with you.

However, if someone is truly obese, I do not. Just like smokers and other health risks that CAN BE CONTROLLED, it is perfectly rational to charge them more.

[Vinca]

19. No - the point of insurance is to share the risk.

Fat people are paying for the sky diver's broken back and the motorcyclist's head injury. Maybe if obese people got support rather than ridicule, they would stop self-medicating with food.

[yellowwood]

20. No, it isn't

If I smoked, I'd have to pay more. If I drove a racecar, I'd have to pay more.

It isn't just the diabetes and high blood pressure that come with obesity. It's the knee replacements and other issues that naturally follow.

I've watched my overweight relatives dive into the fried chicken and potato salad evem though they've lost toes and eyesight to diabetes.

I sympathize with people who have a weight problem. I have to fight it myself, but I believe it is a choice.

At the same time, I believe that grocery stores push unhealthy food just the way drug pushers push drugs. That doesn't take the individual off the responsibility for monitoring his own behavior.

[eridani]

21. It's all bullshit, every bit of it

Fuck charging anybody more for any reason. The biggest, and therefor cheapeast, risk pool is everybody. Anybody who thinks otherwise is an ally of the sociopathic shitstains that run private insurance on the basis of attempting to exclude or overcharge anyone who might get sick. That's why we pay twice as much as every other country per capita and still kill people for not having the money to pay for health care.

And speaking of knee replacements, running as excercise is one of the key risk factors.