Quote:
Originally Posted by RIJIMMY
I dont know dangles. Many people I know, in shape, who exercise have knee, foot, elbow, etc injuries and are constantly at the docs. I've run most of my life and have all kinds of medical expense at podiatrists, knee etc. Look how many sports medicine places there are , who do you think is paying for those? Insurance Cos. Obestity is definitley a factor, but a healthy and active lifestyle adds A TON to medical costs.
how many kids are hury in sports? I guess we should charge them more for insurance for being active.
Also, obese people should die sooner, thus requiring less health costs while healthier people will possibley live longer and incur more costs over their lifespan. I have no clue , let the actuaries figure it out.
Insurance is a business, let the business do whats best for them and their customers.
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"Many people I know..."
You can't make national policies based on your personal observations. I actually know someone who won more than $1 million in the lottery. That doesn't mean that the statisticians are wrong when they say the odds of winning are one in a zillion.
"obese people should die sooner, thus requiring less health costs "
That's definitely a factor (also a factor for smokers). But even with the shorter life expectancy, society pays way more to provide healthcare to the "average" smoker or obese person, than we do to the "average" active person. Because during their shorter lives, they rack up enormous costs, due to their choices.
"let the actuaries figure it out"
I believe they have. Let's see if we, as a collective society, choose to hold obese people as responsible for their choices, as we have long done with smokers (who have been paying more for health and life insurance for many years).
I'm 25 pounds heavier than when I graduated college. Time to fix that!