CDR: RE: why should it be trusted? cpunk

[Trei, Peter]

> ----------
> From: 	David Honig[SMTP:honig at sprynet.com]
> Reply To: 	David Honig
> Sent: 	Thursday, October 19, 2000 4:16 PM
> To: 	Multiple recipients of list
> Subject: 	Re: why should it be trusted?
> 
> At 10:34 PM 10/18/00 -0400, Neil Johnson wrote:
> >I don't have a problem with insurance companies raising rates for people
> who
> >smoke, are overweight (cough, cough), or have high cholesterol (cough,
> >cough, cough). That's behavior that can be changed.
> 
> How silly.  Weight and cholesterol (and intelligence and lifespan) have
> strong genetic factors, as does smoking and drinking, how you respond to
> stress, etc.  You might start by looking up  'dopamine receptors' or 'self
> medication'
> 
Curiously, life and health insurance providers have conflicting goals. Life
insurance providers profit most if you live a long, long, time, regardless
of the quality of that life.

Health insurance providers would much prefer that at some age just before
you start needing large amounts of care, you die too rapidly to need
any kind of treatment - a sudden coronary, or hit by the proverbial bus.

I've heard that smokers actually cost the healthcare system less money than
non-smokers, since they die comparatively rapidly once they start to
deteriorate (no I can't give a cite on that one, either), and need less
long-term
care.

Peter Trei










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