Smoking is now a "nonpsychotic mental disorder" ( Archived) (55)

Yesterday I found out from a person who works at a hospital that if someone comes in for treatment and they say that they're a smoker, there will be an entry in the medical record (code 305.1)



Scroll down until you see 305.1. You're basically a drug abuser, if you smoke.

Yet, smoking is a legal activity, worth about 2.5 billion worth in cigarette tax revenues per year to the Fed and states. One would think that if it were a dangerous drug, it'd be outlawed as a matter of public health.

So I asked this person why such a code was implemented, given that it's a legal activity, much like eating twinkies which, if taken to excess leads to health problems as well.

The answer was that the insurance companies' risk managers want to know. Obviously the objective is to charge smokers a higher premium or to exclude them from contracting for insurance or, most likely, to link smoking to any other illness you contract and therefore refuse payment.

Conversely, I spoke with my health ins. rep in Germany and they said that their studies show that smokers die sooner, therefore there is no increased premium required. The costly patients are those who live longer and need long term care (alzheimers, dementia, etc.).

What do you think about being told you have a "nonpsychotic mental disorder" if you smoke or used to smoke?

Are we taking risk management to absurd levels?

Good example about how we're being socially engineered?

Sugar is an addictive substance....

Is there a point anymore in contracting for health insurance when bit by bit, behaviors are excluded/regulated? Have you seen the list of riders in your policy?

Thoughts?

(I have to admit that I'm pretty pissed about this, not because I smoke, but because of the trend that it sets and the power that insurance companies have). There is some comfort in the thought that Obama suffers from the same disorder though

Interesting, Scuba. However, Obama will never have to worry about being refused insurance or healthcare because of being a smoker, or ex-smoker if he quits, so it hardly matters that he suffers from the same disorder.

And yes, sugar is an addictive substance that also causes many illnesses, and aggravates others.

Insurance companies are definitely getting out of control. There are people being sent home too early all of the time, and then at higher risk of infection if they're readmitted. That happened to my late father-in-law, and is part of what sent him on a downward spiral with his health...he was discharged too early with his pneumonia, had to be readmitted, and contracted a very virulent c-diff infection that didn't react to normal treatment, and weakened him tremendously.

Oh you're quite right that the top brass won't have to worry about it. Afterall, our gvmt ensured that they voted the best health care in for themselves. It's so easy to be harsh when it comes to others' care when you yourself are well taken care of.

I'm sorry to read about your late father-in-law's situation. Unfortunately that's not unusual what happened to him. I have a friend who works for a health insurance company authorizing claims and another who does stats. From both sides, I get the same story: It's a business that has nothing to do with healthcare anymore. All the directives are geared toward increasing the bottom line. Patient care is the last concern. Rather than seing that patients are properly taken care of, the trend is to do exactly the opposite.

Sad indictment of what our society has become, imo.

I agree with what has been said , however really tobacco is a gateway drug IMO

Of course they are drug users. Nicotine is an addictive substance, it's what tobacco companies depend upon, that's why they lies about its addictiveness.

And as for "nonpsychotic mental disorder", whoever invented that terms obviously has never asked a smoker to put out a cigarette.

I've seen heroin and PCP users who are more lucid and reasonable than most smokers.

Not all of us are that bad!

Yes, it is...and this state of affairs was coming into being a decade ago when I was in nursing school...and is part of why I left the medical field altogether.

Hey that is very true, I go nuts if I can't smoke or I run out of them

I've also heard it said before that it's a gateway drug, but to be honest, I haven't seen any evidence yet. So far as I understand it, they interview marihuana smokers and ask them whether they've smoked cigarettes before and most often they have. Yet, most smokers do not turn into marihuana smokers.
Technically, one could say the same thing about alcohol, because the heavy drug users also start out with alcohol at some point.