There are thousands of “choices” that people make in their lives that may have the effect of increasing health care expenditures. Choosing NOT to abort a Down Syndrome child, for example. An elderly person choosing aggressive treatment rather than palliative care for cancer. Once we invite the government to start regulating our life choices in the interest of saving money, do you really think they’ll stop at smoking and weight loss? Conservatives should not go down that road.
I do not believe in the government regulating our life choices. What I have said, repeatedly, is that if you make choices that result in others being forced to pay more to take care of you, there should be limits.
For example, if you smoke and are on state medical aid, you should have that aid curtailed or you should be charged more, because your smoking will cause you to use more of that aid.... which is what private health insurance companies already do. Private companies already mitigate risk through cost; do we really believe that public benefits should not have the same responsibilities attached?
I was recently talking to a nurse in a maternity ward; she had just discharged, under guard, a drug addict who was having her fifth out-of-wedlock child. The guard was due to the fact that she had been trying to score while in the damnned hospital. The first four had been taken away from her due to her continuing convictions. Her health coverage? MaineCare, of course; the taxpayer-funded plan with no deductibles, no copays, no limits, and apparently, no forethought as to how frigging lucky you are to have that plan, free of charge on the backs of others who are quite literally forced to pay for your years of irresponsibility.
Still feel like there should be no limits?