INJUSTICE FOR THE UNHEALTHY

Brandon Forsythe, Danielle Dion, Kiwane Williamson, Nicholas

Cesmat, Christa OLaughlin
 INTRODUCTION

People who engage in unhealthy behaviors should NOT pay more for healthcare.

3 Primary Arguments:
Congenital medical issues
Freedom to do as you choose to your body
Healthy people can have medical disasters
2 Ethical Issues
Justice
Autonomy
 DISCRIMINATION AGAINST GENETICS
AND LOW INCOME

We are not all born equally but we should be treated equally regardless of any disadvantages.
Not all people are born into healthy lifestyles whether it being born disabled or born into a low
income home, so why are they penalized for their parents choices?
For example if a child's mother smoked cigarettes while pregnant and gave the addictive trait of
nicotine to the child then why should the child have to physically pay more money AND
emotionally have to deal with his/her addiction.
This does not follow the ethical argument of Justice because people that were born into unhealthy
lifestyles are discriminated against when they had no choice about the matter.
Inherited medical or financial issues should not penalize an individual's lifestyle
Healthy individuals can be easily effected by unhealthy individuals.
Being born into an unhealthy lifestyle, filled with negative influences can detrimentally sway one's
decisions in comparison to an individual surrounded by good, healthy influences.
This does not follow the ethical argument of Justice because people are surrounded by different
influences that they ultimately have no choice over yet they have to pay more for their
unfortunate circumstances.
 FREEDOM OF MY BODY

If the government wanted to control peoples health they should not have made
legals some products that can affect health such as tobacco and alcohol.
Legalizing products means that a person can choose to use them long as they are of age
without any consequences.
Charging people more because of their health behaviors would not support the autonomy
ethic. Although people should be concerned about what goes inside their body, people are
grown and make their own decisions.
Raising taxes on or the base pay on health care would not benefit the US finances in anyway.
A person might carry the burden of coming out of pocket extra for risky healthy behaviors,
but the US would lose money with tobacco and alcohol, and people may become more
prone to not have health plans because of the cost. That would cause the US 2 losses in
profit right there.
Most diseases/sickness does not come from one cause.
For example, a lot of smokers do not have lung cancer, and lung cancer is not only caused
by smoking. Lung cancer can come from where a person works or the toxins they are
exposed to.
To penalize people who engage in some unhealthy habits would be unjust, because their is
not a clear distinction with bad behaviors and diseases that occur.
People with healthy lifestyles cost more than people with unhealthy lifestyles.
 DANGER AROUND EVERYONE

People who work in unhealthy professions could have a higher chance of

illness.
For example miners or steel mill workers have exposure to dangerous chemicals in
the air that can cause disease.
These people should not be penalized based on how they choose to make a living.
People who have healthy lifestyles can still have catastrophic health disasters.
Cancer can affect anyone no matter how healthy their life choices.
Unhealthy people should not be targeted for something that is impossibe to predict.
 EQUALITY FOR ALL

Freedom
Equality
Opportunity
 REFERENCES

Higher Health Insurance Rates for Unhealthy Lifestyles? (2014, December 06).
Retrieved February 14, 2017, from
http://www.physicianspractice.com/blog/higher-health-insurance-rates-
unhealthy-lifestyles
University, S. C. (2015, November 13). Voluntary Health Risks:Who Should Pay?
Retrieved February 14, 2017, from https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-
areas/bioethics/resources/voluntary-health-risks-who-should-pay/