Quote:
Originally Posted by russ
I believe that there have been studies of that type. IIRC, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine argued that under age 45, those who exercise regularly cost the system more than those who don't, but the trend reverses itself as people reached 45 and beyond. I'll see if I can find the study.
|
Sounds plausible. The real costs of health care only kick in rare circumstances before age 45. You can be a sedentary fat smoker and live to 45 without the aid of expensive treatment or medicine, but about that time, your knees will start wearing out, chronic disease will creep in, and the cumulative effect of the behavior at a population wide scalewill start showing up in the form of various cancers and heart disease.
If the exerciser had a busted collar bone from a bicycle wreck, a sprained ankle from a basketball game, and a torn muscle from the time he was 20 until he reached 45, his healthcare to correct those problems would probably be more expensive than tubby, who never went to a doctor in those 25 years, unless you count Dr. Pepper.
Something greater than 50% of all healthcare costs are the direct result of chronic conditions that result from preventable behavior. So, to go off on a rant here, our insurance premiums and taxes are really freaking high because people are not held individually accountable for the decisions that they make for their own health. The politically popular solution to the high costs seems to be to further remove that responsibility by guaranteeing coverage to everyone.
There was an artile last week in the WSJ about a healthcare plan used by Safeway that assesses premiums based on lifestyle, and healthier folks get a break on their premiums because of the following:
"Safeway's plan capitalizes on two key insights gained in 2005. The first is that 70% of all health-care costs are the direct result of behavior. The second insight, which is well understood by the providers of health care, is that 74% of all costs are confined to four chronic conditions (cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity). Furthermore, 80% of cardiovascular disease and diabetes is preventable, 60% of cancers are preventable, and more than 90% of obesity is preventable."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124476804026308603.html