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'Pay for their medical bills' quickly becomes a slippery slope. Healthy, fit individuals don't much like covering the medical bills of the obese and diabetic (t

'Pay for their medical bills' quickly becomes a slippery slope. Healthy, fit individuals don't much like covering the medical bills of the obese and diabetic (type 2) people, for whom the costs of care vastly exceed those that smoke or drink. There are other medical costs that could be greatly reduced if we allow the moral police to ban other risky and destructive behavior.

seanmcdirmid 5y ago
That actually happens in countries that rely more on socialized medicine. For example, encouraging physical fitness and healthy food in schools is no longer a “nice to have in rich school districts” but a way to save money in the government’s budget in the long run. They don’t “ban” obesity but simply work to encourage people not to be obese. Europes lower healthcare costs and obesity rates are not uncorrelated. (It already kind of happens in the more liberal states of the USA, where Californians are much better fit than Texans).
- faebi 5y ago
  Many insurances in Switzerland sponsor highly local public „vita parcours“ which are some kind of training walking trails. They do it to save costs and there is only a small sign which says who sponsored it.
  - seanmcdirmid 5y ago
    Switzerland’s system is what Obama and Romney care was modeled on: mandatory insurance, but prices are regulated and group plans are disallowed. As such, no company can really reduce costs that way (but it’s good PR), so it’s up to the Swiss government to ensure most healthiness (which they definitely do in ways many Americans would find authoritarian, eg the extra tax males have to pay if they are unfit for conscription).
    - _nalply 5y ago
      Being Deaf I am unfit for conscription. Thirty years ago I would have needed to pay that tax (in French: Taxe d’exemption de l’obligation de servir) [0]. However I was allowed to serve in a different service: civil protection [1]. In case of war I would have gone outside and done measurements for radioactivity, chemical and biological warfare agents. My departement was called ABC (atomic, biological and chemical). I am happy and lucky that the war-games never got real. Later people with disabilities were exempt from the tax. But then I was thirty and already discharged. Links are to French text, sorry, no English text available. [0]: https://www.vtg.admin.ch/fr/mon-service-militaire/generalites-concernant-le-service-militaire/taxe-exemption.html https://www.vtg.admin.ch/fr/mon-service-militaire/generalite... [1]: https://www.babs.admin.ch/fr/zs.html https://www.babs.admin.ch/fr/zs.html

seanmcdirmid 5y ago

That actually happens in countries that rely more on socialized medicine. For example, encouraging physical fitness and healthy food in schools is no longer a “nice to have in rich school districts” but a way to save money in the government’s budget in the long run. They don’t “ban” obesity but simply work to encourage people not to be obese. Europes lower healthcare costs and obesity rates are not uncorrelated. (It already kind of happens in the more liberal states of the USA, where Californians are much better fit than Texans).

faebi 5y ago
Many insurances in Switzerland sponsor highly local public „vita parcours“ which are some kind of training walking trails. They do it to save costs and there is only a small sign which says who sponsored it.
- seanmcdirmid 5y ago
  Switzerland’s system is what Obama and Romney care was modeled on: mandatory insurance, but prices are regulated and group plans are disallowed. As such, no company can really reduce costs that way (but it’s good PR), so it’s up to the Swiss government to ensure most healthiness (which they definitely do in ways many Americans would find authoritarian, eg the extra tax males have to pay if they are unfit for conscription).
  - _nalply 5y ago
    Being Deaf I am unfit for conscription. Thirty years ago I would have needed to pay that tax (in French: Taxe d’exemption de l’obligation de servir) [0]. However I was allowed to serve in a different service: civil protection [1]. In case of war I would have gone outside and done measurements for radioactivity, chemical and biological warfare agents. My departement was called ABC (atomic, biological and chemical). I am happy and lucky that the war-games never got real. Later people with disabilities were exempt from the tax. But then I was thirty and already discharged. Links are to French text, sorry, no English text available. [0]: https://www.vtg.admin.ch/fr/mon-service-militaire/generalites-concernant-le-service-militaire/taxe-exemption.html https://www.vtg.admin.ch/fr/mon-service-militaire/generalite... [1]: https://www.babs.admin.ch/fr/zs.html https://www.babs.admin.ch/fr/zs.html