BaldEagle2 said, "They don't profess to know why, and they say they don't care that much: If they insure the lives of smokers at the same rates they insure the lives of non-smokers, the profit on the group of non-smokers is less."   That sounds reasonable, but having worked for an insurance company once, I'm not sure that's the whole story. Any excuse to charge more, any excuse to pay less. Gouging the customer seemed to be S. O. P.