Insurance Companies

[keenan]

We could use some ammo to help fight this ban. By ammo I mean statistics. Anybody who can help by finding out where the big ***;s stand will be a good start. A lot of them WONT take on new customers who smoke. SO, where do they stand on E cigs.If you apply for insurance, and you VAPE, do they blacklist you ? If so, WHY if there are no studies done. Lets get some help here, I'll be checking some tomorrow

[Christopher]

I don't know how ***'s stand however I purchased a new insurance policy a few months back and when they asked "do you smoke" I said no but I vape. I had to explain the whole processes and the women was intrigued however she stated it fell under "do you use anything which delivers nicotine"

Thus my premiums are the same as that of a tobacco users. This product is to new for Insurance Companies to accept it I think.

[Fenwick]

Kind of a side note but stil on topic:

I am a software programmer (thats why I was initially asking if anyone wrote software for passthrus. Now I realize you would have to build a passthru capable of working with that...different thread)

There is a major company here in Orlando I wanted to get on with. They don't ask you if you smoke. When they test you for drugs, they also test you for nicotine...Very disapointing. I will have to go cold turkey for the dream job. Their reasoning is thatit is non-productive, always going on breaks for a smoke...and their right. When I smoked I was much less productive, but now that I can sit at the computer and vape I get twice the work done.

[Christopher]

Now that really sucks, I've heard of a number of companies that do that. To be honest I'm not sure how it's legal, but some how it is. I suppose you could vape 0 nic until your in. Or even better work your way down to 0 nic and stay at that level

[alan]

If I want to continue the lifestyle I am livng now,I can't,won't go back to analogs.If the only way I could get e-cigs would be black market,then I would think about it.Analogs are what put me in the shape I have now.I have COPD,and it can't be cured,you do not get completly over it,that is according to my Doctor.So, analogs are a no-no for me.Hopefully e-cigs won't be banned and I have no worries,but if they do,then I will just have to buck up and deal with it.

Edited October 1, 2011 by alan

[Knight]

If e-cigs were to be banned, I would put water is a bottle, drip it in a dead atty, and draw on it with a drained battery. In the winter time, I could stand outside and actually see vapor! No way will I go back to analogs!

[sasetrase]

I have never informed anyone that I smoke unless it was a friend/ someone who doesn't really care. No one needs to know of my habits (They don't ask how often you clip your toenails do they?). Insurance companies have never asked, and if they did I wouldn't tell them. No doctor knows that I used to smoke, and now that I don't it is not a problem.

I ingest nicotine, and studies have been done that range from it being as cancerous as uranium, to no health risks; from it being as addictive as heroin to the level of coffee (I don't buy that one. It is definitly stronger than coffee...) Without evidence that Nicotine is alone bad for your health. I do not consider it smoking. There are 7,000+ chemicals. 250+ of which have been found to be harmful, and 70+ which can cause cancer.

Considering they consider a smoker as ingesting 70+ cancerous toxins, and I ingest only one POSSIBLE toxin, they cannot compare the two. If they don't have provisions for that distinction, I make my own.

This outlook is of course only for use by those of us with loose morals when dealing with healthcare. I do my dangedest not to lie, but in this situation. I make an exception.

[mega]

IMO I would just check the box saying you dont smoke. better rates plus in a way you are not lieing.

[kitsune]

For my new job, I am an ex-smoker that uses nicotine replacement.

Was tested for nicotine, naturally-positive, just explained I was using a nicotine replacement.....haven't been unhired yet anyway.

If I would have been thinking, I would have gone 0 nic for a few days to avoid any potential hassle. Nicotine stays in the system for 2-4 days.

[mse12]

I have been a non-smoker as long as an insurance policy was involved with the questions. I think the amount that I pay in unused monthly premiums more than make up any complications I may ever have from vaping. Just my 2c. I've never been tested for nicotine though.

[TexasExSmoker]

You should add a maybe or a not sure, just saying.

As to the idea of banning. I don't know why they would. My doctor told me about e-cigs because I refused to stop. I enjoy smoking. E-cigs give me what I want with out the trash. I don't sink, I don't cough every morning I have been free for 2 months. This is the first dec-jan in ten or more years I haven't been sick with a chest infection. I'm happier and getting healthier. I'm not a smoker don't want to go back.

[Jimbo]

I had already quit analogs before I got my current job. Knowing that my insurance would be $60/month more if I was a smoker, plus the cost of cigarettes, helped keep me off them. Then I saw in the benefits signup package that the extra premium was for tobacco use.

Insurance reps were on site answering questions one day, so I asked three or four of them separately about electronic cigarettes. They said they are considered a nicotine delivery system, just like the patch and the gum. Since they don't contain tobacco, there would be no increased premium.