Poll: Charge smokers more for health insurance, but not the overweight
An NPR-Thompson Reuters Health Poll, which asks whether those who smoke and are overweight should be charged more for health insurance, turns up some interesting results:
A solid majority — 59 percent — say that smokers should pay more for health insurance than nonsmokers. Nearly three-quarters of people in households with an annual income of $100,000 or more a year say smokers should pay more. Seventy percent of those with at least a college degree support higher rates for smokers.
How do the smokers feel? Slightly less than a third of them support higher fees for health insurance.
Americans aren’t too keen on higher charges for people who are overweight or obese. Some 69 percent are opposed to that, leaving 31 percent in favor. People with at least a college degree and those living in $100,000-plus households were more likely to support a penalty. But the majority in all groups opposed higher fees for the overweight.
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