In the period of Obamacare, there is a sound argument that there is a need for greater restrictions on who has access to healthcare on the normal premium’s minimum premium model or through Medicare/Medicaid. The question that has to be asked is if those individuals, which assume a risk through an unhealthy lifestyle, should pay the same premiums as those individuals who live a healthy lifestyle. There is obviously a discussion of degrees in such a debate (i.e. the individual who eats unhealthily in a manner that has limited health impacts is different from the smoker or the obese person). Eating and obesity are a contentious subject when it comes to health care restrictions, because food is a necessity. However, tobacco is not a necessity and is known to be a significant detriment to the individual’s health. Inferentially, the case supporting a health tax for cigarettes, smoking and tobacco is different the debate over the tax for unhealthy eating and obesity. Thus, there should be a health tax in the case of tobacco consumption is necessary, because the individual who smokes is assuming risks that are detrimental to his or her health. The rationale behind this argument is that the assumption of risk, which derives from the law of tort, indicates the individual should not benefit from his or her own acts that result in harm (Noel, 95). Conversely, one could argue that the manufacturers are selling tobacco for smoking, which means the inference of danger that amounts to an assumption of risk is questionable (i.e. the goods are legal, so there should not be a health punishment for smoking) (Dubois, 25). Nevertheless, whether an activity is legal or not, insurance will not cover all activities. For example, extreme sports are not co... ... middle of paper ... ...y?” Issues in Ethics 6.1. 1993.Web. Dubois, Mikael. “Response to Should People with Unhealthy Lifestyles Pay Higher Health Insurance Premiums.” Journal of Primary Prevention. New York: Penguin, 2011 32-27. Print. Noel, Dix. “Defective Products: Abnormal Use, Contributory Negligence and Assumption of Risk” Vanderbilt Law Review. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002. 313-23. Print. Persaud, R “Smokers’ Rights to Health Care.” Journal of Medical Ethics 21, 1995. Print. Schane, RE, Ling, PM, Stanton, A & Glantz, A “Health Effects of Light and Intermittent Smoking: A Review.” Contemporary Reviews in Cardiovascular Medicine.121, 1518-1522, 2010. Print. Warner, KE, Chaloupka, FJ, Cook, PJ, Manning, WG, Newhouse, JP, Novotny, TE, Schelling, TC & Townsend, J “Criteria for Determining an Optimal Cigarette Tax: The Economist’s Perspective” Tobacco Control. 380-386, 1995. Print.
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In a research article by Gallet (2004), several aspects of the clean indoor-air laws were closely examined. Set apart from other literature on the same topic, Gallet (2004) proposed that the degree of enforcement of these laws was just as important as the laws themselves. States that maintained the most restrictive clean-air laws encouraged much more competition within the cigarette industry; hence prices were adjusted closer to marginal cost which caused the availability of supply to increase (Gallet, 2004). Conversely, Keeler, Barnett, Manning, & Sung (1996) concluded that the price adjustment closer to marginal demand could be explained as an attempt to compensate for the reduction of demand caused by the antismoking laws. Regardless of the opinions of the papers on this aspect of the clean indoor-air laws, both agreed that state regulations that prohibit or limit smoking in public places decreased the cigarette demand.
Health insurance premiums have been on the rise for years. I was self-employed for over 20 years and the price I paid for health care was astronomical. My cousin has her Master’s Degree in Actuarial Studies and review statistics for state health insurance pools and for major health insurance companies. This topic has come up many times in conversation with her, and she has informed me that Americans would be extremely frustrated to know that their insurance premium increases are a direct reflection from smokers and health complications associated herewith. Furthermore, many company’s health insurance premiums are approximately 25% higher due to smokers within the company. Currently, even though applications ask the “smoker” question, numerous individuals
A pack of cigarettes can cost anywhere from $6 to $10/pack in the U.S. Even if a person smoked a half of a pack per day, that would be $3/day. This would be a weekly expense of $21 and $84 for the month. That figures out to $1,008 in a year. That’s a decent amount of wasted or burned up money. For the last few years, our government has been trying to get healthcare insurance available for every American. Most healthcare insurances give a discount to nonsmokers or they include a “tobacco surcharge”. This tobacco surcharge is part of the new Obamacare. Smokers can face an increase of their premiums up to 50%. The health insurance that is offered at my workplace has a required health screening annually if you want to possibly receive the tobacco free discount. A blood test is done to check for nicotine or cotinine is in the blood. If the results are positive for these additives, the employee would not receive the discounted insurance rate. That unnecessary expense of $1,008 annually could contribute towards health insurance or healthier food for their
Would you want to live in a country that dictated what you put in your body, and what you do in your own home? Since the 1980’s federal, state, and local governments, have passed numerous laws, which have had a direct impact on the sale of tobacco products. Increased tax rates, and advertisements restrictions, successfully manipulated the amount of product consumers buy. Unfortunately, through the help of public health polices, smoking has already been banned in most public places, airlines, and business, and now, arguments have been made to ban smoking completely from the United States (cdc).
This article discussed about how the government is basically preaching about ethics while being greedy. Since the government pressures tobacco companies to fund ads that tells others that smoking is unhealthy, but secretly want more individuals to buy them since it helps the economy. George Will then states information about how smoking kills more than one thousands of America and it more individual dies from smoking than from alcohol consumption. murder, AIDS, car crashes, etc. Will also states that tobacco companies adds enough nicotine to make it addictive. In this article, it also discusses about state government thrive on revenue from tobacco taxes. The federal tax on a pack is one dollar. In New York and connecticut the tax for tobacco
The tobacco industry is important to the economy. In 1991, worldwide tobacco sales exceeded $59.8 billion and in 1992 the industry was rated as one of the top one hundred advertisers (Pechmann and Ratneshwar, 1994). However, there are high prices to pay - socially, economically, and personally - as a result of this industry. Annual mortality figures indicate that cigarette smoking is the number one cause of preventable death in the United States. An estimated 390,000 people die each year of smoke related illnesses, which is greater than the combined mortality for cocaine, crack, AIDS, homicide, suicide, and alcohol abuse (Botvin, G., Baker, Botvin, E., Dusenbury, Cardwell, and Diaz, 1993).
Statistics show that the increased affordability for cigarettes due to the taxation effects people of low income earning more than people that earn higher amount of income per year. Table 3 shows that the average amount of prevalent smokers becomes considerably higher as the amount of total income decrease thus affecting people of lower income more than higher.
Cigarette smoking has become a part of the daily life of many Americans. At every given second, someone somewhere is smoking a cigarette. Beginning in the early 20th century, institutions have been investigating the negative, and in some cases fatal, effects smoking tobacco products has on the body. Banning cigarette commercials from television and mandating warning labels on all sold tobacco products have not been enough to keep hundreds of thousands of people dying each year from the long term effects of tobacco. This country has taken a focus to begin to legalize marijuana; however, the focus should change to this negative element of our economy. Cigarettes should be illegal in the United States for its extensive damage to the body and it’s near guaranteed cause of death.
The first federal tax of cigarettes occurred in 1960. The amount was 8 cents while the cost of a pack of cigarettes was 28 cents. The tax was one-third the price paid by consumers. At present, the average price of a pack of cigarettes is $4.00 with the 39-cent tax accounting for 10 per cent of the cost. To return to the 31 per cent rate of 1960, the federal tax would require an increase of 94 cents per pack. Additionally the federal tax on cigarettes has not kept up with the consumer price index. For the government to alter this situation, the proposed tax increase would have to be $1.12 per pack. In contrast, the tax on cigarettes in foreign countries ranges from more than $2.00 to almost $10.00 per pack.
For this paper, I will to focus on smoking in the United States population as smoking causes a significant burden on health care systems and on the economy. Smoking negatively affects most organs, causing cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung disease, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other diseases. Tobacco use costs more than $300 billion per year in medical care and lost productivity due to premature death and secondhand smoke in the United States. Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States (US), causing more than 480,000 deaths per year in the US and contributing to smokers dying ten years earlier than nonsmokers. Additionally, nicotine, an ingredient naturally in
F J Chaloupka, K. M. (2002). Tax, price and cigarette smoking: evidence from the tobacco documents and implications for tobacco company marketing strategies. Tobacco Control, 62-72.
The sale of cigarettes and tobacco is a multi-billion dollar industry, but is it truly worth all the problems that stem from their use. Health care costs are extremely high due to all the health problems associated with cigarettes and tobacco. Even though research has proven time and time again the harmful effects of cigarettes, and the rising cost of health care caused by cigarettes our government will not take a stand and stop all manufacturing of the horrible toxins.
“Many of the restrictions on tobacco advertising are designed to prevent young from being exposed to it” (Smoking). Above I already mentions that smoke affects all over the body organs; some body organs are too sensitive. “Tobacco contains more than four thousand chemicals, some of which are known to be poisonous or cancer causing” (smoking). Therefore, chemical found in tobacco cause lung cancer and other types of cancer. In the articles “Tobacco and smoking 2004”, it’s written that lung cancer kills more American than breast and prostate cancer combined, and tobacco accounts for over 30% of all cancer deaths and a comparable fraction of death due to heart and lung diseases(National). Each year, many people start to smoke and day-by-day more risks are increasing. Every year different organizations tries to control the use of tobacco in the United States, but none of them became success. In the United States, the first preventable cause of cancer is tobacco. Therefore, the government should enact a law to make the use of tobacco illegal to prevent people suffering from different types of
From many perspectives, the word smoking means different things to different people. Some might think smoking means relaxation while others might think of smoking as a harmful disease. Cigarettes were invented over a century ago. Since then, many people have started to smoke which has led to many issues that the world faces today. Smoking is a serious issue that needs the attention of all American citizens. Even though the United States cannot control what other countries think about this issue, they can definitely set an example for others to follow. Smoking causes major issues for the smokers themselves and for other people around them. Due to the health effects caused by smoking cigarettes and secondhand smoke, the American government should