{"id":1119,"date":"2013-07-14T12:26:23","date_gmt":"2013-07-14T18:26:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theloungeisback.wordpress.com\/?p=1119"},"modified":"2014-01-10T17:51:20","modified_gmt":"2014-01-10T17:51:20","slug":"oops-smokers-glitch-means-smokers-wont-pay-more-for-obamacare-coverage-for-the-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=1119","title":{"rendered":"Oops, “Smokers’ glitch” means smokers won’t pay more for “Obamacare” coverage — for the moment"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"smoking<\/a><\/a>Hah, OK, this is actually kind of funny.<\/a> An example of government bureaucracy at its best.<\/p>\n

Under the Affordable Care Act, smokers were looking at paying up to 50 percent more than non-smokers through government insurance plans sold to small companies or individuals.<\/p>\n

BUT, the ACA also allows insurers to charge three times more to older workers than what they charge to younger workers. That limit is set in stone — 3X more than the lowest premium is the most an insurer can charge. So, the problem is for an older person who smokes, the formula should be 4.5X more than the minimum premium amount … but that conflicts with the 3X maximum.<\/p>\n

So, in short, the Obama administration had to scrap the whole smokers’ surcharge for the time being until they can figure out a new formula to fix this. What I’m buffudled by is … no one thought of this or noticed it until now….? Really? They didn’t think of it when they wrote the bill to begin with?<\/p>\n

So, possibly for another year, smokers getting insurance through ACA programs won’t see higher premiums than non-smokers, but in the long run, they will.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hah, OK, this is actually kind of funny. An example of government bureaucracy at its best. Under the Affordable Care Act, smokers were looking at paying up to 50 percent more than non-smokers through government insurance plans sold to small companies or individuals. BUT, the ACA also allows insurers to charge three times more to … Continue reading Oops, “Smokers’ glitch” means smokers won’t pay more for “Obamacare” coverage — for the moment<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,32,57],"tags":[80,161,174],"class_list":["post-1119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-affordable-care-act","category-insurance","category-smoking-2","tag-affordable-care-act-2","tag-obamacare","tag-smoking"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/smoking-coverage-photo.jpg?fit=960%2C799&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4hpEa-i3","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1016,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=1016","url_meta":{"origin":1119,"position":0},"title":"Health Care Reform penalizes smokers","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"February 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"A little-known provision in the Health Care Reform law passed in 2010 is that it can penalize smokers -- by a LOT. Beginning in January 2014, for a 60-year-old smoker, the surcharge could be up to $6,000 a year. That surcharge gets bigger and bigger for older smokers. Ouch. Boy,\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=1016#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"smoker skull","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/smoker-skull.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1102,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=1102","url_meta":{"origin":1119,"position":1},"title":"Smokers cost employers an average of $5,800 a year","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"June 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Yoiks, I can only imagine the comments at the old Smokers\u2019 Club (I haven\u2019t a clue if that is even around anymore. It\u2019s been years since I looked.) on this story! According to an Ohio State University researcher \u2014 between absenteeism caused by added health problems and lost productivity due\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "smoking"","block_context":{"text":"smoking","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=57"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/US-businesses-pay-about-6000-extra-for-workers-who-smoke.jpg?fit=630%2C354&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/US-businesses-pay-about-6000-extra-for-workers-who-smoke.jpg?fit=630%2C354&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/US-businesses-pay-about-6000-extra-for-workers-who-smoke.jpg?fit=630%2C354&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":841,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=841","url_meta":{"origin":1119,"position":2},"title":"Workplaces banning smokers — period. Is that cool?","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"January 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is something I've written about before, employers not only banning people from smoking on the premises, but refusing to hire smokers and firing people for being smokers. This USA Today article looks at this. There are a growing number of companies that are doing this, even including nicotine in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anti-tobacco campaign"","block_context":{"text":"Anti-tobacco campaign","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/mizoram-no-smoking.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1707,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=1707","url_meta":{"origin":1119,"position":3},"title":"NBC, CNN go all out on smoking this weekend","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"January 13, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"For the 50th anniversary of the Surgeon General's watershed report on smoking and lung cancer, both NBC News and CNN had for a time last weekend smoking as their top stories. Imagine my excitement seeing cigarette smoking dominating the top of both websites with so many other stories going on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "cigarettes"","block_context":{"text":"cigarettes","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/nbc-front-page.jpg?fit=1200%2C705&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/nbc-front-page.jpg?fit=1200%2C705&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/nbc-front-page.jpg?fit=1200%2C705&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/nbc-front-page.jpg?fit=1200%2C705&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/nbc-front-page.jpg?fit=1200%2C705&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4337,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=4337","url_meta":{"origin":1119,"position":4},"title":"Mixed signals on smoking and COVID-19","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"May 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I haven't done an update for a while. I've been pretty busy, then like most people, my life has been upended by the effects of the COVID-19 virus and blogging took a backseat. Then, in late April, our blog was hacked. By someone in China using our blog to sell\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "COVID-19"","block_context":{"text":"COVID-19","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=924"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/111263590_060637102.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/111263590_060637102.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/111263590_060637102.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/111263590_060637102.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2754,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=2754","url_meta":{"origin":1119,"position":5},"title":"England set to ban smoking in cars with kids","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"December 20, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 This is an issue I haven't heard as much lately. It was starting to become a big deal in a lot of states two or three years ago. England (not the United Kingdom, just England), is set to ban smoking in vehicles with children. So far, seven states\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "smoking"","block_context":{"text":"smoking","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=57"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/london-traffic-jam-hypermiling.jpg?fit=800%2C532&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/london-traffic-jam-hypermiling.jpg?fit=800%2C532&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/london-traffic-jam-hypermiling.jpg?fit=800%2C532&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/london-traffic-jam-hypermiling.jpg?fit=800%2C532&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1119"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1518,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119\/revisions\/1518"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}