Dude… smokers put a massive cost on the healthcare system so if they’re hit with prohibitive costs that are in place to encourage them to quit or pay for their impact then that’s a system working. I agree that it could be problematic charging people for what is an addiction, but I’d highly recommend the US simply implement ridiculously high taxes on the cigarettes themselves as we do in Australia.
Here a pack of 25 cigarettes costs upwards of $20 and even at that cost the tax revenue doesn’t even cover much of the impact smokers have on the health system. Before civil liberties smoking douchebags jump in: I’m a smoker (well, I mix tobacco with weed)… I just think that people need to take responsibility for the cost of their choices. Except kids who grew up in the homes of heavy smokers who smoked inside, most people are responsible at some point for taking up the habit.
Edit: The other thing is that, if they are serious about quitting and will likely succeed, there’s nothing stopping them from listing non-smoker on the forms. The only caveat is that if they don’t succeed in quitting and then they get sick with a smoking-related illness then they’re up some sort of creek without a paddle.
Anyway… I’m loving the commentary of butthurt retardlicans on twitter over this. Welcome to the civilised world America, it’s been a while coming!
