01-25-2013, 06:25 PM
hal wrote:
[quote=Pam]
It's extremely wrong. People voluntarily ignore diet and exercise warnings resulting in diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc yet they'll single out smoking? Look at the obesity rate. But that's ok. Pop some pills, don't change your habits. There are far more people in that category than in the smoking category.
I disagree. I call it a good start. If one chooses to take on greater risk, they should pay for it. Obesity should be addressed too: sell insurance by the pound...
I agree pretty much with hal, with some caveats. Looking at it another way, why is it OK to charge people who take care of their bodies more money so that those who abuse their bodies can get extra care to repair the damage.
Given the nature of addictive conditions, I feel that people with high health risk factors (smoking, obesity) should be offered a way out of their conundrum. This could take the form of anti-smoking programs, healthy eating and exercise programs, etc. However, if the folks with high risk factors refuse to participate in programs that will put them on the way back to health then it is perfectly fair to charge them extra for the cost of dealing with their problems medically.
Perhaps it would be better to take a carrot rather than a stick approach. Charge everybody the same, but give tax credits or rebates to those who can score above a certain level on standardized physical assessments that evaluate risk factors or progress in programs that reduce risk factors.