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Originally Posted by Giant Hamburger
If you live longer, then you cost the health system more money as you more slowly transition to dead.
Eat up, drink up, smoke up and die earlier. It will probably be the best thing you do for society during your existence.
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If only it were that simple. Smoking doesn't always kill you, but it can give you long-term illness. Now
that is a cost to the health-care system. A non-smoking, health-oriented old person is less expensive than a chain-smoking, health-indifferent old person.
I haven't seen the data, but I wouldn't be surprised if smoking and poor dietary habits cause more burden to the health-care system even if these people have a shorter life span.