If an entire society chooses to eat itself into a foul and disgusting stupor who cares? On most levels, I don't except that the health problems that accumulate for these imbeciles raise my health insurance premiums as well. I have yearly checkups and that's it because I take really good care of myself, however my premiums are the same as the Whopper loving colon cancer patient a few cubes down! While we're on the subject I don't smoke, but again my premiums are the same as a smoker with lung cancer. WTF?!?

Start raising health insurance premiums for the lifestyle choices these idiots make (like life insurance premiums) and they just might start looking into things like calorie content!

You're asking insurance companies to either assume that patients are being completely truthful, or to intrusively monitor them to ensure that they are actually being truthful. Do you want insurance company reps setting up video cameras everywhere you go to make sure that you don't smoke? Or that you never go through the drive-thru at Burger King and order the Whopper?

And don't forget that many people aren't paying their health insurance premiums. They're either provided by the government (in the case of Medicare/Medicaid) or by their employer. Of course, Medicare and Medicaid are the precise reasons why the government wants a hand in this -- but you can't really force people to change their behaviors, can you?

Moron, of course people's lifestyles cannot be monitored, however, people who are in consistent good health should not have the same ridiculous premiums as those who are not. Also, the majority of us are tired of subsidizing the lifestyles of the unevolved and blissfully, ignorant.

There are health problems that come up that people have no control over. Assuming that anybody who is not in good health must either be a smoker, stuffing their face with unhealthy foods, or not getting enough exercise... well, that's also ignorant.

ttd,

This person can't even extend simple, common courtesy to you - a person who has raised valid points and taken his commentary seriously - much much more seriously than is warranted.

Anyway, it turns out that people who are overweight cost cost more money in the short term, but they die young. The healthy people that live into their 80's and 90's actually cost more as their bodies slowly shut down, and they keep doing all those things necessary to stay healthy. Also, every person who dies young of heart disease etc. doesn't live to collect their social security, so you could think of that as offsetting your health care premiums. After all, if everyone in the US lived to be old enough to collect it, there might not be enough for you.

The title of the first post in this thread, and the subsequent text cover it pretty neatly. The true and righteous elite must be given nearly complete control over the lives of the stupid, ignorant, insensate masses. they are so like children, they cannot be trusted to make any good decisions, so they must be controlled, for both their own good and the good of the everyone, so they don't run off the reservation and do something stupid.

I am coming to believe that this is the overarching attitude of the writers of Slate and most of those who post on The Fray.