Smokers may pay more for health care, minister says interview, minister, continue, meetings, because

tiffiant

Smokers may pay more for health care, minister says



VANCOUVER - B.C.’s smokers may be forced to pay higher MSP premiums because of the added burden they place on the health care system, Health Minister Mike de Jong said Thursday.

“Some people, in B.C. about 14 per cent of the population, continue to smoke and they’re going to cost more,” de Jong said in an interview. “Maybe they should contribute more.”

De Jong raised the idea during meetings with delegates to the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Vancouver on Thursday, but said he’s been talking to numerous people on the issue recently.

“There’s no imminent change or increase in the works, but it is an interesting reaction where people go: ‘Yeah. What about that? What about asking people who engage in an activity that we know is going to cost the rest of society more money, to contribute more?’” said de Jong, adding the idea is still just conceptual.

“As a non-smoker, why am I paying the same health insurance premiums as someone who is engaging purposely in a behaviour that we know is going to cost more down the road? That’s what people ask me.”

De Jong said he is not contemplating a similar policy for people who eat trans fats, fast food or engage in other unhealthy behaviour, explaining that smoking is a much easier issue to define.

He said the idea is getting positive feedback, including 76 per cent during a 4,000-person virtual town hall meeting he held in his Abbotsford West riding earlier this week.

“We are trying to make the shift from treating disease to prevention and part of that involves provoking a discussion among people about how we accept personal responsibility for our own health,” he said. “It has generated interesting discussion around the notion of personal responsibility, which is good.”

tiffiant

Anita Ho, an assistant professor at the University of B.C.’s centre for applied ethics, questioned singling out smokers for higher premiums.

“There are many other high-risk behaviours and high-risk choices that can also incur more health care costs,” said Ho, citing the consumption of alcohol and unhealthy foods, making unhealthy lifestyle choices and even engaging in extreme sports as examples.

“It’s about fairness and consistency: Why single out one group when there are many things that we do that can incur higher health care costs?

“It seems to be some kind of a moral judgment on smokers, that these people are voluntarily engaging in a behaviour that we don’t condone.”

David Eby, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, said a higher premium for smokers could be a slippery slope.

“People make health decisions all the time, and when you start choosing individual lifestyle decisions, and isolating those, it makes it difficult to say there aren’t other cases that are just as serious that should be dealt with,” he said.

“The reality is, we don’t want government stepping into our lives at that level. We don’t want the government in our kitchen saying you shouldn’t have extra butter with your popcorn because you’ll have to pay more on your MSP.”

Eby noted it could also prompt people to lie to their health care providers to avoid paying the higher premiums.

In B.C., smokers pay $37 in taxes per carton of 200 cigarettes, or $3.70 per pack. Loose tobacco is taxed at 18.5 cents per gram.

The province collected $682 million from tobacco taxation in the 2009-10 fiscal year, $708 million in 2008-09 and $692 million in 2007-08.

tiffiant

B.C.’s smokers may be forced to pay higher MSP premiums because of the added burden they place on the health care system, Health Minister Mike de Jong said Thursday.