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Originally Posted by Barefoot
Who would decide what is risky and what isn't?
And would they just take people's word for it, that they don't smoke, exercise regularly and eat only healthy food?
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Statistics on risk can be found everywhere. That's how insurance companies decide how much to charge. Whether it's car incurance, house insurance, business insurance, flood insurance, or health insurance, they have statistics. No need to worry about that.
About smoking: They would rely on blood tests, just as they are now doing at many hospitals that don't allow newly hired workers to smoke. The other big risk is being overweight or obese. This can easily be checked and backed up by other numbers like cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar etc..
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Who would set the acceptability bar for those who choose to take higher risks? If someone exercises daily but eats fried food, should they pay a higher premium than someone who doesn't exercise and eats salads? The intricacies would be unmanageable. Who would monitor the "risky behavior" and deem it has been discontinued for a long enough period?
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The limits have already been set for many years. When you go to the doctor the nurse checks your weight, hight and blood pressure. Then you get a blood test. The blood test checks for many different things and everything has an upper and lower limit.
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Not only is it an unwieldy and impossible idea, but there is something mean about the idea of penalizing anyone who is less than perfect.
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There are studies that indicate how one's risk increases as BMI increases. As the number goes up from 18 to 19 and from 19 to 20 and so on. But this idea does not expect perfection because you can go all the way up to 25. With a BMI of 25, one may have 20, 30 or more pounds of excess fat. The doctor would check your percentage of body fat in addition to your BMI. Obesity would be even worse, as far as excess body fat. We're not talking about perfection at all. Far from it. And as far as meanness goes, I think there's something mean about making those with healthy lifestyles pay for the unhealthy lifestyles of others.