This week I read that Arizona's Medicaid (a government-run heathcare program for low income earners in the US) wants to charge people who smoke more for health cover. Oh, and they also want to hit diabetes patients with an extra fee if they refuse to comply with doctor's orders to lose weight. It's something that a lot of private health insurers in the States already do.
“This is an annual fee that says to consumers, ‘Hey, we’re not going to prevent you from smoking, but you have to put a little bit more into the system because it costs us more,’” says Monica Coury, spokeswoman for the state Medicaid agency. “We don’t care how much you weigh... We care if you are doing something you should be doing to manage your disease.”
Keeping in mind that smoking costs Australia more tha $31 billion a year and obesity costs in excess of $37.7 billion a year, where do you stand on this issue? Should we ask people who knowingly put their health at risk to literally pay the price?
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