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Originally Posted by Oldfart
[[ Assumes Devil's Advocate Role]]
How many here are happy with contributing to a multi-million dollar assistance bill looking after someone who opted for the dangerous alternative? If you're going to take extra risks, should you pay higher insurance to cover it?
[[ End Devil's Advocate Role]]
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See, the problem with charging people for "risk," is that we all take risks. Some of us jog, and will blow out our knees eventually. Some of us smoke, but don't do anything else risky. Some of us drink. Some of us eat carcinogenic steaks. Some of us engage in dangerous sports, or have dangerous work. Some of us have genetic risks that we may or may not know about. Some of us are with abusive partners that will send us to the ER many times over our lives.
I worked with a lady who died of mesothelioma. She was an office worker her whole life. But her dad was an asbestos worker, and when she was young, they didn't know the risks, and mom washed everyone's clothes together. 60 years later, she's dead. They were all high risk...should they have paid more?
So whose risk is acceptable, and whose is not? And how is it my right to tell you how to live your life? I certainly don't welcome you telling me how to live mine. Personally, I take the view that when it comes to insurance and social safety nets of other kinds, we're all going to have our turn sooner or later with something, and everyone contributing covers that. Sometimes you won't be taking much out of the system, for years. And then down the road you might have a car accident, or find a lump, and you'll get way more than you ever paid in. Mr. AZRH had surgery this summer. He was in the hospital one day; the bill (without insurance) was over $23K, just for the hospital--everyone else billed separately. We've never paid that much in premiums; we've always gotten individual coverage as a benefit at our job. And given the astronomical profits insurance companies make, I don't know that any individual other insured is paying that much for me, either.
I think we all chip in, and it all works out in the end. I wouldn't ride a motorcycle without a helmet, but other people have to make their own choices.