Why Is It Ethical To Charge Tobacco Companies Important?

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Millions of people across America struggle with paying health insurance. While it is expensive for the average American, certain individuals have to pay more money than others. Those that use tobacco products, those that are obese, and those that have genetically inherited diseases are charged more than others with health insurance. From a provider’s point of view, doing this is logical because those individuals are at risk of health issues. Is it necessarily ethical to charge those people more than others? Depending on the situation, yes and no. People that are charged more for health care are human, and every human comes along with circumstance. The ethics behind these specific health insurance costs are relative. Is it ethical to charge tobacco users more for health insurance? The use of tobacco products come along with severe health risks, and it is uncommon in today’s society for those risks to go unanticipated. With that information considered, most tobacco users know the …show more content…

Those that are considered obese are often made aware by their doctors of the health risks obesity comes with. If they do nothing to decrease the health risks, such as attempting to maintain a healthier lifestyle, the likelihood of need treatment increases. Insurers know of this likelihood and should charge more money. Genetically inherited diseases, however, are a different story. While it makes sense for insurers to charge more to people with genetically inherited diseases, it is absolutely not ethical. Tobacco users and obese people can possibly control what they are charged for, but those with genetic diseases cannot. They do have health risks, which is what insurers recognize in order for them to charge more. However, there is often no way for these individuals to change or better their situation, so they are stuck with paying more their entire