ACA goal to shift tobacco-induced medical costs to smokers falls short

A recent study from the Yale School of Public Health in New Haven, Conn., found surcharges put in place by the Affordable Care Act to transfer smokers' healthcare costs to tobacco users decreased enrollment and limited the ACA's goal of universal healthcare, Bloomberg reported.

Under the ACA, payers can increase premiums up to 50 percent for tobacco users. The study found tobacco users — who represented 17 percent of adults in the U.S. last year — were slower to enroll in health plans because of the surcharges.

The study also compared how the number of insured smokers would have changed if surcharges were eliminated. Without surcharges, insured smokers would have increased from 70 percent in 2013 to 80 percent in 2014, Bloomberg reported. Smokers under the age of 40 facing surcharges were also 20 percent less likely to have health insurance than those facing no surcharges.

In light of the surcharges, a lag in smokers purchasing healthcare did not level out the medical burden of tobacco-related healthcare costs for nonsmokers, according to the study. Data also showed surcharges did not curb smoking, as smokers facing zero surcharges were just as likely to quit as smokers facing surcharges, Bloomberg reported. 

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