The Washington, D.C., Health Benefit Exchange executive board has voted to prohibit health insurance companies from charging higher premiums to smokers and tobacco users.

The April 8 vote, according to a news release, followed testimony by patient and public health advocates opposing a premium surcharge for smokers.

An estimated one in five residents of the District use tobacco regularly, with rates especially high among African Americans (30.8 percent).

Continue Reading for Free

Register and gain access to:

  • Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.