Russell Williams
Well-Known Member
I just posted this on the comments section about a news article saying that fat people costs the country a huge amount of money in health costs.
Everybody dies, and except in cases of sudden and deadly heart attacks the deaths are often long, drawnout, and expensive. My father retired at age 63 and died at age 96. During that 33 years he was supported quite well on a government pension and Social Security. He had a variety of medical problems which became increasingly complex and expensive over the years and spent the last three or four years in a nursing home. He was thin all his life and when he was about 45 he quit smoking.
Suppose he had been a heavy smoker and fat and that because of these two factors died at age 60. There would've been money associated with his sickness and death at age 60 but there would not have been 30 years worth of pension and the time between no longer working and death would've been a lot less .
When people talk about the amount of money that fat people cost of country do they factor into that the amount of money that is supposedly saved because fat people die younger ages ?
A company may save money by charging fat people higher insurance premiums. Such an action may produce thinner and healthier employees. but that simply kicks the can down the road.. . After the person reaches 65 or 67 Medicare insurance picks up health expenses plus the person is collecting a Social Security check and possibly other pension checks every month.
I was once at a panel discussion where the person before me said that this may be the first generation in a long time when the children do not live as long as their parents.
When it became time for my presentation I started off by quoting the previous speaker and adding that if the previous speaker had been correct then then Social Security was saved.
it really is not fair to have it both ways . It is not fair to say that people are getting fatter and fatter and that fat people die younger and also complained that people are living so much longer that Social Security will go bankrupt
Everybody dies, and except in cases of sudden and deadly heart attacks the deaths are often long, drawnout, and expensive. My father retired at age 63 and died at age 96. During that 33 years he was supported quite well on a government pension and Social Security. He had a variety of medical problems which became increasingly complex and expensive over the years and spent the last three or four years in a nursing home. He was thin all his life and when he was about 45 he quit smoking.
Suppose he had been a heavy smoker and fat and that because of these two factors died at age 60. There would've been money associated with his sickness and death at age 60 but there would not have been 30 years worth of pension and the time between no longer working and death would've been a lot less .
When people talk about the amount of money that fat people cost of country do they factor into that the amount of money that is supposedly saved because fat people die younger ages ?
A company may save money by charging fat people higher insurance premiums. Such an action may produce thinner and healthier employees. but that simply kicks the can down the road.. . After the person reaches 65 or 67 Medicare insurance picks up health expenses plus the person is collecting a Social Security check and possibly other pension checks every month.
I was once at a panel discussion where the person before me said that this may be the first generation in a long time when the children do not live as long as their parents.
When it became time for my presentation I started off by quoting the previous speaker and adding that if the previous speaker had been correct then then Social Security was saved.
it really is not fair to have it both ways . It is not fair to say that people are getting fatter and fatter and that fat people die younger and also complained that people are living so much longer that Social Security will go bankrupt
