Paying for Unhealthy Lifestyles

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Comments?

Misty L. Trepke

http://www..com

 

Don't we already pay enough for our " unhealthy " lifestyles?

 

I was thinking the other day about why I am so staunchly

opposed to most types of governmental intervention in our

lives, especially when it comes to our health. And I

concluded that mine isn't so much a philosophical objection

as a near-absolute certainty that they'll just botch up

whatever they get involved with. Honestly, if I thought our

elected officials would always act solely in the best

interests of the citizens they supposedly serve, I'd be all

for bigger, stronger government. But...

 

Such a perfect world does not exist, and the bureaucrats

almost universally don't allow our best interests to govern

them while they're governing us. It's a sad truth, but an

immutable one, it seems. Which is why it's such a shame that

the latest brainstorm to come out of the Department of Health

and Human Services can't actually work - because a lot of

people are likely to think it's a pretty good idea. And it

is, in theory.

 

Basically, the plan is for the government to " incentivize "

health insurance carriers to give people with healthier

lifestyles cheaper rates on their health insurance coverage.

In other words, the healthier you live, the less you'll pay

for insurance. In principal, this sounds pretty fair, doesn't

it? Sure it does.

 

So why won't it work, you ask?

 

Because the government's idea of " healthy " living isn't

really healthy at all - and it's getting even less so with

every passing year. Need proof? Take blood pressure

guidelines, for example. Just five or ten years ago, 140/90

was considered perfectly acceptable - yet 120/80 is viewed as

HIGH nowadays! And don't get me started on the established

thinking about cholesterol...

 

The long and short of it is that if the government is allowed

to set the standards for healthy living that we're all going

to be bound by in the eyes of our insurers, we'll be paying

through the nose if we aren't soy-swilling, tofu-munching

marathoners who'd never dream of drinking a martini or

enjoying a fine cigar.

 

If this becomes public policy, the end result won't be

healthy people saving money on insurance - but " unhealthy " (see

also " normal " ) people being swindled for their so-

called " vices. "

 

Setting my own standards,

 

William Campbell Douglass II, MD

 

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