# Thanks Obama (ACA) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 5, 2014, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-obama-aca/685443 "2014-04-05T23:32:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-obama-aca/685443/41 "2014-04-08T19:03:47Z")
Well, let’s ask a pertinent question: how long after the Surgeon General’s report did it take for health insurance companies to start asking whether or not you smoked? ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-obama-aca/685443/42 "2014-04-08T20:17:46Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Oh, you “seriously doubt”! Goodness, confronted with such rock-solid information, I must retreat in disarray! Well, paint my butt blue and call me Ricky Retardo. > > My problem must be that I lack your intuitive grasp of mathematical reality, I’ve always found arithmetic to be very unforgiving. But no! Turns out, if you got a guy smokes three packs a day and considers bacon to be a food group, he might be assessed by GreedCo Insurance to be very risky, according to their proprietary actuarial tables, but MammonGroup Insurance might find him to be an excellent risk. > > Wow! I had no idea! Probably everybody else already knew this, but perhaps you will expand further on this astonishing revelation? Are there any actual facts to support this? You know how picky and particular some people are, they simply won’t accept your intuitive grasp of the situation as readily as I. Hell, some of them won’t even accept “seriously doubt” as a fact-based argument, you know how some people can be… Calm the hell down. My point was that it’s not like there’s the “Big Government Actuarial Table” that all insurance companies use to set their rates. They all have their own tables derived by their own actuarial staffs, and they use these tables to determine what they think the risk is for various situations, and fine tune their rates accordingly. It’s not much of a stretch to say that some obvious risk factors like smoking and obesity are probably considered high risks on all of them, and that’s why they want to know those things. They probably also have much more intricate calculations for the rest of us who don’t smoke 3 packs a day and consider bacon a food group, especially if they can get more information about you. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-obama-aca/685443/43 "2014-04-08T20:53:27Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Calm the hell down. My point was that it’s not like there’s the “Big Government Actuarial Table” that all insurance companies use to set their rates. [There is one](http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/STATS/table4c6.html), actually, but I’m sure there’s a lot more information on the ones insurers use. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-obama-aca/685443/44 "2014-04-08T21:08:44Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Calm the hell down. My point was that it’s not like there’s the “Big Government Actuarial Table” that all insurance companies use to set their rates. They all have their own tables derived by their own actuarial staffs, and they use these tables to determine what they think the risk is for various situations, and fine tune their rates accordingly. > > It’s not much of a stretch to say that some obvious risk factors like smoking and obesity are probably considered high risks on all of them, and that’s why they want to know those things. > > They probably also have much more intricate calculations for the rest of us who don’t smoke 3 packs a day and consider bacon a food group, especially if they can get more information about you. So, then, the actual difference between the tables they use and the math they calculate with is relatively minor, a matter of fine tuning to eke out even the smallest advantage? So, then, your point was a nitpick? Agreed. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-obama-aca/685443/45 "2014-04-08T22:02:02Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > So, then, the actual difference between the tables they use and the math they calculate with is relatively minor, a matter of fine tuning to eke out even the smallest advantage? > > So, then, your point was a nitpick? Agreed. But the insurance companies **live** on those nits! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-obama-aca/685443.md?page=2)