In a new press release Ash is calling all smokers throughout the US to pay more money on health insurance than non-smokers.

Smokers already pay more on health insurance in a number of states.

Carolina has just joined those states, forcing smokers to pay 30% of health care costs rather than 20%.

Dodgy Maths

Ash argues that smokers costs the health system more than non-smokers.

What they are leaving out is the huge taxes smokers pay.

While we don't have exact figures for the US, we do know that smoking taxes in the UK pay for the cost of smoking diseases several times over.

What's more, smokers cost the country less overall, with smokers dying younger on average and therefore costing the UK less in pensions and less in treatment of old age diseases.

The truth is that non-smokers' moral judgements on smokers have lead to a situation where smokers already pay more than their fair share of the tax burden.

Discrimination

What is scary is that anti-smoker discrimination in resurging in a country which has worked so hard to get rid of other forms of discrimination.

Let's remember that this is the same anti-smoking lobby which has argued that we should leave smokers to die rather than treat them.

Ash, of course, goes even further than this.

They believe that even ex-smokers should be denied treatment that could save their lives. See "Action on Smoking and Health Suggest that Former Smokers not be Eligible for Heart Transplants."

More? Check out what three proffessors of medicine have to say about some of Ash's health claims.

Filed under: ash • discrimination

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!