Wonkbook: Obamacare's surcharge for smokers may have backfired

By Carolyn Y. Johnson A provision of the Affordable Care Act that allows insurers to charge smokers higher premiums may have discouraged smokers from signing up for insurance, undercutting a major goal of the law, according to a study published this month. The surcharges, of up to 50 percent over nonsmokers' premiums, also showed no sign …   The latest economic and domestic policy from Wonkblog   (Michael Temchine for The Washington Post) By Carolyn Y. Johnson A provision of the Affordable Care Act that allows insurers to charge smokers higher premiums may have discouraged smokers from signing up for insurance, undercutting a major goal of the law, according to a study published this month. The surcharges, of up to 50 percent over nonsmokers' premiums, also showed no sign of encouraging people to quit. The Affordable Care Act eliminated insurers' ability to charge higher premiums based on whether a person was sick. But it does allow them to vary premiums with age, geography, family size and smoking status. "Some people wanted smokers to bear responsibility for the added cost of smoking, and the other thought was that some people would quit," said Abigail S. Friedman, a health economist at the Yale School of Public Health, who led the study published in Health Affairs this month. Her analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2011 to 2014 suggests that neither of the expected outcomes happened. Read the rest on Wonkblog.   Chart of the day The theme of the GOP national convention Monday night was "Make America Safe Again." Christopher Ingraham has more. Top policy tweets "Yuh oh: DOJ is going to sue to block Anthem/Cigna and Aetna/Humana mergers https://t.co/RujUIMdLdS" -- @dylanlscott "Interesting/plausible argument from @tylercowen that a lot of Trump voter anger is about the retirement crisis. https://t.co/PRh2enkvop" -- @jeffspross "Hispanic immigrants who've been in US for longer are less likely to see new immigrants as strengthening US society https://t.co/w6PMsQMGA1" -- @crampell ADVERTISEMENT   Most Recent Posts from Wonkblog Mike Pence has mocked working moms: ‘Sure, you can have it all’ That moral argument has disintegrated over time. By Danielle Paquette  •  Read more »   The clearest proof yet that your job is killing you By Jeff Guo  •  Read more »   Antitrust officials reportedly preparing to block insurance mega-mergers The deal could transform the health insurance landscape by consolidating the big five insurers into just three companies, By Carolyn Y. Johnson  •  Read more »   Why so many men are cooking Men are spending more time in the kitchen than perhaps ever before. By Rachel Premack  •  Read more »   One of Elizabeth Warren’s key ideas slid into the official GOP platform Republicans at the convention voted to adopt some unexpected language Monday night. By Max Ehrenfreund  •  Read more »   Why oil billionaire Harold Hamm is wrong about a ‘Trump rally’ in the markets The Trump supporter seems to have let emotions crowd his investor's brain By Jim Tankersley  •  Read more »   Obamacare’s surcharge for smokers may have backfired Charging smokers more for health insurance makes them less likely to sign up. By Carolyn Y. Johnson  •  Read more »   IMF: Brexit is slowing world economy — and it could be worse The International Monetary Fund says the worst could still be to come By Ylan Q. Mui  •  Read more »   What to do when you feel as though 'no lives matter' The vicarious trauma of shootings in America takes a deep toll. By Ana Swanson  •  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   Recommended for you   Federal Insider Federal news and policy update, in your inbox daily. Sign Up »         Share Wonkbook:       Twitter      Facebook Trouble reading? Click here to view in your browser. You received this email because you signed up for a Wonkblog newsletter. For additional free newsletters or to manage your newsletters, click here. We respect your privacy. If you believe that this email has been sent to you in error or you no longer wish to receive email from The Washington Post, click here. Contact us for help. ©2016 The Washington Post, 1301 K St NW, Washington DC 20071