High health risk women

Trixie, 34, is hale and hearty yet appreciates that she’s considered a high health risk because she drinks, smokes, eats junk food, sleeps around, has a stressful job involving a lot of time spent on the road and in the air and generally burns the candle at both ends. She is horrified by the incredible costs of both the private and public health systems and is particularly scathing of the public system which encourages whiners to complain about having to ‘pay’ for the healthcare of people like her who choose to indulge in risky lifestyles and suggests a risk penalty funded healthcare system to solve the problem.

“When the public healthcare countries are turning to the American system of private health insurance as a way to deflate their huge health costs, it is ironic that America is now considering a universal health system for the same reason,” sighs Trixie. “Let’s face it, both systems are stuffed and abused and what we need to do is to place responsibility for health right back on to the individual where it belongs and keep insurance companies, BigPharma, religious zealots, lawyers and the government bureaucrats as far away from the doctor-patient relationship as we can.”

“To start with, I am in favor of universal healthcare but as the rich will always want their own doctors and hospitals there will inevitably be a two-tier system in any society, and that should not be a barrier,” says Trixie. “Let them take out private insurance and let them have whatever operations they want for however long they live or their money lasts, but don’t give them any tax breaks for doing so because the public health system is there for them, whether they choose to use it or not, just like every other public amenity (art galleries, libraries, museums, opera houses, etc) is there for all of us, and paid for by all of us, whether or not we use it.”

“By placing responsibility for health right back on the individual where it belongs I am all in favor of paying a penalty for my lifestyle choices,” says Trixie. “If we were all required to pay a healthcare risk penalty then that would put a stop to all those whiners who complain about having to ‘pay’ for the healthcare of risky people like me and put out of work all those nannies in government who ‘earn’ their living telling us how we should live our lives.”

“Once the penalties are in place, there will be no need for the nannies to remind us of how naughty we are,” laughs Trixie. “We’d just look at the penalties we’re paying – there would need to be a label on every risky product and a special charge on every bill – and we’d either put up and shut up or change our ways. In my case, I’d be paying a fortune in healthcare penalties, but at least I know that if and when I need to go to hospital I have paid in spades for the care I get.”

“The penalties would have to be fair, though,” says Trixie. “You can’t penalize smokers and drinkers and let everyone else off the hook, like they do now. And you can’t allow for no-claim bonuses either because that will deter people from seeing a doctor; and besides which the most expensive to treat killer diseases take years to develop.”

“There’s always the risk that people will lie about their lifestyles to avoid the penalties so a taxation system is fairer than private health insurance. By paying a health ‘penalty’ at the point of sale – for alcohol, tobacco, junk food, extreme sports, guns, sexual services, motor vehicles (and gas), air travel, overseas holidays (where the risk of picking up a disease is high), and the list is endless – the consumer is reminded of the risk in a far more appropriate way than the current system of nannying.”

“And, for the same reason, no rewards should be allowed for doing ‘healthy’ things like eating vegetables, exercising or sleeping 8 hours a night,” laughs Trixie. “How on earth can the taxman or the health professionals police that sort of thing?”

“The junk food penalties won’t put McDonalds and places like it out of business,” says Trixie, “they’ll learn to serve us healthier foods, as they are already doing.”

“As for stressful jobs, I think employers should be required to pay a very heavy health penalty for every employee who does risky work as well as paying an extra health penalty for anyone working more than the statutory hours (on top of paying overtime to the employee).”

“This penalty system may even bring about the legalization of hard drugs and ensure that addicts receive better healthcare than they do now.”

“What about unemployed people? Well, I think there will always be a case for free healthcare for needy people, but because whatever welfare money they receive will incur health penalties for every risky thing they consume there is really no such thing as ‘free’ healthcare. They will be paying for healthcare just like everyone else (but from public money, of course).”

“Will these penalties mean that only the rich can lead risky lives? Yes, I suppose that’s a possibility,” laughs Trixie, “but considering that they are more likely to have private health insurance and don’t use public hospitals then good luck to them.”

“Will high risk people be paying for the healthcare of low risk people? Yes, that’s another possibility, and we probably do that already,” laughs Trixie, “but how delicious it will be to tell them that and prove it!”

“Anyway, most important of all, I want to see exactly where my health penalty dollars are going,” says Trixie. “I don’t want this money going into general revenue and getting spent on making bombs to kill people on the other side of the world, or paying for the luxury retirements of politicians and public servants.”

“I want a label on every risky item I consume telling me exactly what percentage of the money I am paying for it is going into healthcare,” says Trixie. “I am fed up hearing about run-down hospitals, overstretched health budgets and waiting lists, and when we all start paying directly into healthcare through the penalty system the government cannot cry poor any more.”