Do you smoke?

[Vaperer]

Good evening
So I was having a conversation with an insurance adjuster this morning. He asked me if I smoked. I said no I vape an electronic device.. He responded by saying it's the same thing as a cigarette. So how do you answer this question? do you smoke if you're a vaporer? Or should I have just said no?

 

[Rossum]

No, I do not smoke.

Even my health insurance provider does not regard vaping as "tobacco use". I was actually quite surprised to find this out and I made the broker double-check. (I own a business and buy health insurance for a group of about a dozen employees and their families).

 

[englishmick]

Good evening
So I was having a conversation with an insurance adjuster this morning. He asked me if I smoked. I said no I vape an electronic device.. He responded by saying it's the same thing as a cigarette. So how do you answer this question? do you smoke if you're a vaporer? Or should I have just said no?

Saying no might be dodgy. If you make a large claim they will go over your life with a magnifying glass looking for some way to avoid paying out.

 

[AzPlumber]

Saying no might be dodgy. If you make a large claim they will go over your life with a magnifying glass looking for some way to avoid paying out.

If the question is "do you smoke" the answer would be NO. If the question is "do you use a tobacco product" I would reluctantly answer yes.

 

[maribel92]

Nope, only vaping

 

[Burnie]

If the question is "do you smoke" the answer would be NO. If the question is "do you use a tobacco product" I would reluctantly answer yes.

I told my doctor I vape, and I quit cigarettes in 2013, and they listed me as a non smoker. I also told them I used Snus and nicotine pouches to keep from smoking, still, I am a Non Smoker in the records (I have access to them online). Smoking and tobacco use are 2 different things.

 

[Rossum]

If the question is "do you smoke" the answer would be NO.

Agreed.

If the question is "do you use a tobacco product" I would reluctantly answer yes.

Yeah, that's what I would have thought too.

My company's insurance provider (a Blue Cross company) sent a tobacco use survey once, early in 2014. I listed myself and one other employee as tobacco users. I had already switched to vaping, but the way they worded it was "within the past 6 months" and it had been less than that for me.

Then in the summer of 2017 when my brokers (a benefits consulting firm) came to visit me with their annual renewal proposals, they looked at me and asked:
How long has it been since you quit smoking?
Me: About 3-1/2 years.
Them: So why are you still listed as a tobacco user?
Me: Because as you can plainly see, I vape. (and took a drag).
Them: No, that's not tobacco use!
Me: Are you sure? If that's really the case, I want it in writing from the carrier.

Well, here's the exact wording they got from the insurance carrier:

Electronic cigarette (e-cig or e-cigarette), personal vaporizer (PV) or electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS), do not fall under the definition of “Tobacco Use’. However, this is subject to change in the future based on revisions to federal regulations.

That was as of June 1, 2017.

 

[r77r7r]

Sometimes I wonder if we called it Vaping from the start, maybe we wouldn't have such a large target on our backs.

 

[93gc40]

Imo I am a non smoking smoker.... not had a cigarette or other tobacco in 3 years..

I just use a vape instead of ciggies or pipe. I still use tobacco.... all my juices are tobacco flavor or NET. And I still use nicotine.... and the cloud looks just like I'm smoking.

I'm a smoker who no longer inhales or exhale smoke.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

 

[ScottP]

I always pay the extra few dollars a month "smoker" premiums. It's worth it to know that's one less thing they can deny a claim for. Although I have noticed in the last 2 years my insurance company changed the question from "smoking" to "tobacco product user", which as we all know, vaping is now officially considered a tobacco product. I will also say they only ask me on the life insurance portion and the price difference is only like $3.00/month.

 

[Storm52]

The questionnaire would have to ask "do you use nicotine" before I would answer in the affirmative.

 

[1neeto]

The loaded question that gets me every single time. I smoke cigars but I keep that to myself when it comes to insurance. [emoji51]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JCinFLA]

So how do you answer this question? do you smoke if you're a vaporer? Or should I have just said no?

Just had my 6 month check-up Monday. Because of new computer programs at the whole facility...they had to obtain patient info. all over again. So the nurse needed to get my info again before I saw my PCP. Included in the questions were the following:

"Do you smoke?"
My answer: No

"Have you ever been a smoker?"
My answer: Yes, but I quit in January 2014

"Do you use smokeless tobacco, like chewing tobacco or snuff?"
My answer: No

"Have you ever used them?"
My answer: No

I just honestly answer the specific questions I'm asked...period.

My PCP (who's also my endochronologist) knows I stopped smoking by switching to vaping, and that I am still regularly vaping and plan to keep vaping. He was/is very supportive of it, and continues to say that my lungs sound great, BP is wonderful, etc. He also still gives me the thumbs up or a high 5 for not going back to smoking!

ETA: I also responded as I did above, to the same/similar questions, when I applied for my Medicare supplement insurance last Fall.

 

[stols001]

I will not answer that I'm a smoker since I'm not. Depending on wording, though, I sometimes have to answer yes, but I think that answer (and exactly what is asked) varies from state to state. The bottom line though, if I think some "insurance" of any sort will deny my coverage or not cover me for a smoking related illness, I will specifically mention that I vape, because I don't want to be denied care, or in the middle of a lawsuit while trying to get my cancer treated (stated hypothetically, I don't have cancer ATM as best I can tell) but that would just be the wrong time to get denial of care. If I can't tell how they are going to treat vaping, I will specifically ask.

Anna

 

[Baditude]

After I began vaping, I always answered those health questionaires that I am a previous smoker, currently a non-smoker. I realized that in most authoritarian circles, using a tobacco product (vaping e-liquid) equates to smoking in their eyes. Like most of us are not allowed to vape at locations where there is no smoking, ie a hospital campus. I've always been sort of an anti-authoritarian rebel, so I continued to be a discrete stealth vaper at the hospital where I worked even though they had a zero tolerance policy in effect.

The factory where my brother works recently warned their employees that they would test for nicotine and other drugs after making it a zero tolerance issue for employees to smoke. The company has of yet to follow through with that promise.