Who else thinks smokers should be given this choice: quit or sign away medicare privileges?

grumpybear

then the same should go for people who drink alcohol or people who work in mines or any dangerous activity....

if medicare privileges are taken away from these people then they should no longer have to pay into social security or medicare...and that would screw the entire system...you can not eliminate people from a federal program because they take part in a dangerous lifestyle...private insurance they already pay higher premiums....so if you don't like it move to another country.

TyranusXX

Spoken like true Nazis!!

How about ,forcing people to eat certain foods and forced excersize??? Sound good to you?

kwbfirst

That's ridiculous. It would open the floodgates- what's next... no insurance if you don't eat vegetables and exercise?

sparhawk7322

How liberal of you to use black mail to try to take away a persons freedom of choice.

anti_pc_whiteman

only if over weight people do also. and also extreme sports athletes.

gardensallday

I agree with most of the others, are you going to take away insurance for fat people, extreme sports lovers, people who don't eat 5 a day fruits and vegetables, people who choose to be sleep deprived getting less than 7 hours of sleep a night, peole who don't exercise 5 times a week etc. etc.

Most people who smoke do want to quit, they just can't. They are addicted.

garthbrooksfan57

As long as drug addicts and heavy drinkers do the same. If you like McDonalds etc, you sign too. Fat people as well.
If you drive a car, you too, or any kind of recreational vehicle.
If you own a firearm, you too.
It's OK to pick on smokers but not anyone else right?

ehad46

I think you should sign away your privileges because you were apparently smoking crack when you posted this question.

Schaufel

Medicare should be done away with anyway... but more to the point...

Smokers are actually the people who support medicare the most, what with paying up to $2.50 a pack in taxes, and the outrageous payouts to the states by the tobacco industry (which ultimately gets payed out by the smokers who have to pay higher per pack prices on smokes). So, you should be thanking smokers for paying for your stupid medicare program! Without smokers you wouldn't have medicare, so, no... that's kinda like saying, hey, you may be paying for your health insurance through your work, but since you smoke, we're not going to cover you... but you have to keep paying for it!

Anyway, the idea of blackmailing people into compliance with a particular way of life is awful "Orwellian". What's next? Excersise police? No drugs of any kind, even alcohol and caffine? Why don't we have the government tell us everything we can do? Let's all live in government block-style apartments, let the government tell us what kind of job we should have, then get us that job. Lets have the government run the television, radio, print media, and the internet. Lets let the government tell us when to get up in the morning and when to go to bed. Then they can tell us who to love, who to hate and if and when to have children, with whom and, of course, how to raise them! Hey it works great for North Korea... right?

I tire of this constant barrage of the "holier than thou" experts out there telling everybody else how to live their lives, for our own benifit no less. If that weren't enough, they are incideous enough to use the power of government to coerce or force all of us to follow their edicts!

What happened to liberty? What happened to self determination? What happened to individualism? America was founded by the rugged individualists... why have we all the sudden become collectivists? Patrick Henry did not say "Give me absolute safety or give me death"! We need to overthrow this mentality of "big-brother" style collectivism, and return to an America where, in the words of John Stuart Mill, "Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign."

Ringo G.

most bitter ex-smokers i guess

Sandra

Damn the smokers yet again. Why are you such a hater? 20% of the adult U.S. population smokes. However, 2/3 of Americans are either overweight or obese. So, where do we start the list? Oh and my kids do some pretty risky sports, let's just ban kids altogether as we know how clumbsy and risk-taking they all are....

Sunidaze

Are you going to do the same thing to obese as well, since obesity is likely to lead to a lot of health problems (including diabetes and heart disease)?

â™« Mad Luv â™«

I think your idea should be more along the lines of paying more for insurance but to remove it or force a choice like that isn't a place for the land of the free! USA!

I have been smoke free for a year now! :) yippy! hard yes worth it yes!
I wish no one smoked however it is there personal choice and Honestly the short amount I'm around the 2nd hand smoke isn't going to put me on my death bed. and I do have that choice to go somewhere else!

Everyone is all for doing something for the way they see stuff try to be fair for all sides... it's that best.. I mean if your walking into a store and someone is out side smoking and you get 2nd hand for that hole 2 sec hold your breath or something else they should have to move! your the one that is on the move! and even if you do breath in that 2nd hand stuff isn't going to kill you unless you live with a smoker then that's something that needs to be arranged by the people living in that household!
It sickens me that people can only see one way!

something else that sickens me! is
people with substance abuse should be denied for temp SSI When my own mother has to fight for it at the age above 55 and she can't work!
but the drunk down the street gets it because he abuses drugs!

DUH

Who do you think you are,Al Gore?? BTW whose Father made millions growing tobacco.

rwcrufler

Pol Pot maybe.
Skate boarders should be next.

jehen

Most folks paid into medicare their entire working lives. So if you are going to deny them coverage for any reason then you better be writing big checks to them for the money they paid in (plus interest).

This is silly. Everyone gets old. Every old person will need medical care that is unaffordable without coverage. Sure, smokers cost the system more, but the answer is not to deny coverage.

Andy W

absolutely. im a smoker who understands the damage that it does. i also support a universal healthcare program, but smoking, drinking, and drug use should disqualify you.
but as the previous poster said, what else are you going to be disqualified for... being obese? what about a dangerous job? people could find new jobs and go on diets... i guess thats also why i support a hefty tax on 'unhealthful' items. mcdonalds should be taxed out of existence.

Jahn

That would not work. Clear them from the shelves of all convenient stores. If the sufferer cannot evolve into a non-smoker, than, re-stock the smokes. But make the person feel this.......

Tracy B

I agree. I think that smokers shouldn't even have medical insurance.

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