Penalty could keep smokers out of health overhaul
By By Ricardo Alonso-zaldivar
Topics: From the Wires, Life News, News
WASHINGTON (AP) — Here’s a possible new cost for people with the cigarette habit.
Experts say millions of smokers could be priced out of health insurance because of tobacco penalties under President Barack Obama’s health care law
The Affordable Care Act allows health insurers to charge smokers buying an individual policy up to 50 percent higher premiums starting next Jan. 1.
A 60-year-old smoker could wind up paying nearly $5,100 on top of normal premiums.
Younger smokers could be charged lower penalties under rules proposed last fall by the Obama administration.
Workers with job-based coverage can avoid tobacco penalties by joining a smoking cessation program.
The older smokers buying individual coverage could face a heavy financial hit at a time in life when smoking-related illnesses typically emerge.
Related Stories
More Related Stories
-
Illegal construction, shoddy materials at fault in Bangladesh factory disaster
-
Pope Francis: Atheists are all right!
-
Lawsuit alleges anti-gay hiring practices at ExxonMobil
-
Boy Scouts poised to vote, still greatly divided on gay youth
-
Is recreational pot use safe?
-
How I ended up in a pyramid scheme
-
My bipolar partner beat me
-
Teenagers care more about online privacy than you think
-
Radio host tweets rape joke, blames journalists for reporting on it
-
El Salvador court delays ruling on abortion case while woman's life hangs in the balance
-
Kicked out of the mall -- for an anti-cancer hat
-
Why do men pretend to be women online?
-
Pa. governor "can't find" any Latinos to work in his administration
-
Conservative group blames military sexual assault on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal
-
Is Pittsburgh the next Portland?
-
Tornado survivor to Wolf Blitzer: Sorry, I'm an atheist. I don't have to thank the Lord
-
Donald Rumsfeld worried that marriage equality will lead to polygamy
-
San Francisco Giant Jeremy Affeldt apologizes for homophobic past
-
Wall Street firm's "Golden Pitchbook" is totally sexist, full of lies
-
Federal court strikes down Arizona abortion ban
-
I'm not achieving my dreams!
Featured Slide Shows
The week in 10 pics
close X- Share on Twitter
- Share on Facebook
- Thumbnails
- Fullscreen
- 1 of 11
- Previous
- Next
-
Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
Credit: AP/LM Otero -
Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
Credit: AP/Matt Rourke -
A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher -
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
Credit: AP/Molly Riley -
Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite -
Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster -
O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid -
Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield -
When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin -
A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin -
Recent Slide Shows
- Share on Twitter
- Share on Facebook
- Thumbnails
- Fullscreen
- 1 of 11
- Previous
- Next
Related Videos
Most Read
-
Oklahoma senator: Tornado aid "totally different" from Sandy aid
Jillian Rayfield
-
Tornado survivor to Wolf Blitzer: Sorry, I'm an atheist. I don't have to thank the Lord
Mary Elizabeth Williams
-
9-year-old slams Rahm over Chicago schools
Natasha Lennard
-
Inhofe and Coburn: Red state hypocrites
Joan Walsh
-
Facebook's hate speech problem
Mary Elizabeth Williams
-
Brad Pitt keeps breaking his silence on how boring marriage to Jennifer Aniston was
Daniel D'Addario
-
Experts: Fox News spying scandal a game-changer
Natasha Lennard
-
Revenge, ego and the corruption of Wikipedia
Andrew Leonard
-
Did a Salon excerpt ruin Penn Jillette's chance to win "Celebrity Apprentice"?
Daniel D'Addario
-
You are less beautiful than you think
Ozgun Atasoy, Scientific American
Popular on Reddit
links from salon.com

46 points47 points48 points | 1 comment

77 points78 points79 points | 32 comments

10 points11 points12 points | comment
From Around the Web
Presented by Scribol
-
Diane Gilman: Baby Boomers: A New Life-Construct -- From "Invisible to Invincible!" -
Susan Gregory Thomas: Why Divorced Boomer Moms Don't Deserve The Bad Rap -
British Nanny Offered An Annual Salary Of $200,000 -
Arianna Huffington: What I Did (and Didn't Do) On My Summer Vacation -
Vivian Diller, Ph.D.: Maybe Happiness Begins At 50
- British mom filmed confronting killers of soldier in London explains brave act
- Chatter: Machete terrorist attack in London
- Tax haven no longer? Luxembourg resists change to lax regulations
- America: What's more harmful, pot use or incarceration?
- UPDATES: More details of British soldier's killers emerge, as riots break out in London
- How a Ghost Army of American artists helped defeat Hitler
- London's gruesome attack and the rising threat of lone-wolf terrorism
- WATCH: LeBron James' unbelievable, last-second, game-winning shot
- Is the Vatican Bank finally fighting money laundering for real?
- Immigrant entrepreneurs wanted: Rust belt cities need you



A Comprehensive Guide To Making The Jorts Of Your Dreams
25 Awesome Swimsuit DIYs You Have To Try This Summer
38 Perfect Books To Read Aloud With Kids
5 Home Depot Hacks

Comments
0 Comments