Smokers To Face Big Costs from Affordable Care Act

Next year, President Obama's Affordable Care Act will put big penalties on smokers, with insurers charging nearly double for those who can't kick the habit.

Lorraine Harvey has been smoking since she was just a teenager and for her, smoking is also a part of her job at Discount Tobacco in Peoria.

She said, "It'll affect my income, you know. It's going to affect can I smoke or not, my health care insurance. It affects everything about me."

Harvey said she's fed up with the increasing cost of her habit. She said last summer's tax increase was bad enough, but a rise in insurance premiums may be the final straw. "The government wants it both ways. We want your tax money but now you get to pay even higher premiums to have healthcare insurance. That's not fair to the people."

The Obama Administration said health insurers will be allowed to charge smokers thousands of dollars.

According to the Associated Press, that means a 50 year old smoker could be paying more than four thousand dollars a year and a 60 year old could wind up paying more than five thousand dollars, on top of premiums.

Now, Harvey said she's trying to quit. She said, "I mean, you get to the point where you have to. Especially when your insurance rates are going to go up 50 percent. It's crazy."

Young smokers may be off the hook. According to the Affordable Care Act, it is mainly the older smokers that will pay the higher fines.