Why should taxpayers pick up the tab when some daredevil gets in trouble?

[Irishman]

Thanks for the details.

[clairobscur]

@elbows

What about people who don’t manage their diabetes and end up needing constant care? The expensive later life care for someone morbidly obese?

All people later life medical care is expensive. A morbidly obese person will die, say, at 50 from some disease or another, costing some large amount of money. The guy with an healthy diet will die at 80 from some disease or another, costing some equally large amount of money. Except that his medical expenses during the 30 intervening years will have to be paid for too.

Unhealthy lifestyles are more likely than not to result in less medical expenses.

[Powers]

@clairobscur

All people later life medical care is expensive. A morbidly obese person will die, say, at 50 from some disease or another, costing some large amount of money. The guy with an healthy diet will die at 80 from some disease or another, costing some equally large amount of money. Except that his medical expenses during the 30 intervening years will have to be paid for too.

Unhealthy lifestyles are more likely than not to result in less medical expenses.

You’re assuming that everyone requires expensive care at end of life. Dying from simple old age, for example, isn’t particularly expensive.

Furthermore, the morbidly obese person you cite likely had higher medical expenses than the average leading up to the acute condition that caused his death.
Powers &8^]