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Wednesday, September 03, 2014

Things I Don't Understand

There are things that really puzzle me. Some life insurance companies charge lower premiums if you haven't made a life-shortening lifestyle choice. Being a nonsmoker is one of them. Actuarially, that makes sense because the life expectancy for smokers is at least 10 years shorter than for nonsmokers.

Insurance company policies charge higher premiums to those who are obese. The National Institutes of Health reports that those with a body mass index greater than 40 have a six- to 14-year lower life expectancy. Again, actuarially, that makes sense. Indeed, there's a strong advocacy for higher life insurance, as well as health insurance, premiums for those whose lifestyle choices impose a greater financial burden on society, which obesity does. But there's one important exception.

According to the International Journal of Epidemiology, life expectancy at age 20 for homosexual and bisexual men is eight to 20 years less than for all men. That's a lifestyle shortening of life expectancy greater than obesity and tobacco use. Yet one never hears of insurance companies advertising lower premiums for heterosexual men.

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

They would immediately be accused of discrimination regardless of the statistical basis of their implementation!

Anonymous said...

The premise of the article is false.

Ask yourself, when did you CHOOSE to be heterosexual. You didn't choose, you just are, right? Homosexuals don't choose either, they just are.

The premise is that there is some choice being made, when in fact, there is none.

Ipso facto, the argument is bunk.

Anonymous said...

11:50
You have drank all of the Kool Aid! I wanted a little taste.