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While that's possible, healthy people still cost the government more, by living longer. :mrgreen:
uhc....i'm all for it.
While that's possible, healthy people still cost the government more, by living longer. :mrgreen:
uhc....i'm all for it.
Which brings us back to the point that smokers already pay a lot more, through taxation, even though they don't cost society more.
Still really stupid, if you ask me.
Gosh, I had no idea that the oxygen tanks for those with emphysema were free. Lung cancer must be the cheapest cancer to treat there is as well.
People that take care of themselves do not necessarily live longer than the obese or smokers, they simply have a better quality of life later in their lives and consume far less healthcare later in there lives. Its far cheaper to be healthy, your health deteriorate rather quickly over the course of a couple of months, then you die, than it is to be in poor health for decades before the chronic diseases you have (heart disease, adult onset diabetes, or emphysema) finally kill you.
Not that it's free. But over half the cost of tobacco products currently is tax, and those taxes were created for the purpose of offsetting the additional healthcare costs.
Except that statistically this isn't true. Smokers will come down with big disease earlier than non-smokers. But they will also die earlier. If you live a healthy life, when you're knocking on death's door it takes A LOT of money to keep you alive for another 6 months. The smokers, who already pay, whom succumb to disease earlier in life tend to die earlier in life and thus do not incur the end of life costs that "healthy" people will eventually realize.
Furthermore, their earlier deaths save on all sorts of things from pensions, medicare, social security, etc. Dying early is cheaper than holding on.
Which brings us back to the point that smokers already pay a lot more, through taxation, even though they don't cost society more.
Still really stupid, if you ask me.
Do you have any sources at all to back up your claim that the chronic diseases associated with smoking and obesity are cheaper - because they live shorter lives, than what the average healthy fit individual consumes?
If your fat, you are getting a knee replacement at 50, high blood pressure drugs from 40s on, cholesterol drugs from 40s on, adult onset diabetes drugs and treatments many times, and various other treatments and surgeries related to heart disease and joint deterioration until you die.
If you are a smoker, chances are you have all that, plus the health issues associated with smoking. Yet that is supposed to be cheaper than the 65 year old guy that still runs, eats right, maintains a health bmi, and does not take any drugs for blood pressure or cholesterol?
Not to mention that the healthy 65-year-old can still be a highly productive member of society...
Jeez. Don't give them any ideas.Open discrimination to be honest, why not charge old people double the standard because of the costs they accrue?
That's a good point. Long after the typical smoker is on the oxygen and drawing disability, a healthy and fit senior is still working and still paying taxes.
They actually cost a little less, overall. But only because non-smokers, on average, live about 10 years longer.
MMS: Error
Do smokers cost society money? - USATODAY.com
But, in that case, you would have to take into account that most of the medical costs for those non-smokers are going to be near the end of life, most likely after retirement age, or at least after reaching Medicare age. So, as far as insurances that are offered as worker plans, within that time frame, the smokers are more likely to cost insurance companies more in health care costs, especially older smokers.
Basically, those insurance companies that are providing health care for workers are not interested in the overall costs of a lifetime smoker compared to a lifetime non-smoker, since the increase in cost of a non-smoker is likely to come after the person no longer has that particular insurance.
It doesn't matter how "healthy" one lives their life. All men die. They all cost a lot of money keeping alive. But the smoker goes earlier and thus nets less cost.