Should vegetarians be required to pay as much for health and life insurance?!
Should vegetarians be required to pay as much for health and life insurance?
We get breaks for being non-smokers, not taking risks, why not for being vegetarian.
It is a healthier lifestyle, for me at least, and why should we pay for the cardiac care of those who eat meat? Very few vegetarians suffer from heart disease - the leading cause of death in America.
3 months ago
There is a company in England offering a 25% discount to vegetarians, why not in the US?
That company has the evidence that allows them to lower the premium, we should insist on it here.
3 months ago
As for vegetarians being more compassionate, i question that. I see so many thumbs down on decent answers, simply because they argue for the meat based diet. Show some compassion let them speak.
3 months ago
For all of you who say there is no proof then explain why one company is offering cheaper rates. One would not if they didn't believe it was worth it. A matter of capitalism.
And I have never seen such ridiculous arguments before, wow I really stirred the hive with this one.
Vegan and proud - sorry dude but you didn't answer the question.
3 months ago
Liverpool Victoria Life Company, gives vegetarians a 25% discount for the first year, and any profits made from the sale are donated to animal welfare groups.
Answers:
3 months ago
There is a company in England offering a 25% discount to vegetarians, why not in the US?
That company has the evidence that allows them to lower the premium, we should insist on it here.
3 months ago
As for vegetarians being more compassionate, i question that. I see so many thumbs down on decent answers, simply because they argue for the meat based diet. Show some compassion let them speak.
3 months ago
For all of you who say there is no proof then explain why one company is offering cheaper rates. One would not if they didn't believe it was worth it. A matter of capitalism.
And I have never seen such ridiculous arguments before, wow I really stirred the hive with this one.
Vegan and proud - sorry dude but you didn't answer the question.
3 months ago
Liverpool Victoria Life Company, gives vegetarians a 25% discount for the first year, and any profits made from the sale are donated to animal welfare groups.
Personally as a vegetarian, and as a human being with normal thoughts, I would naturally think this is a good idea. But I have to say that that's not going to happen. Most of the people who make decisions about how much you pay for health and life insurance are not vegetarian, therefore they are probably not going to want to give people like us benefits--then again, if all it takes to pay less money is give up meat, those may be the first people to jump at vegetarianism.
I know i just contradicted myself, showing that there ARE two (or more) sides to this insight. Good question-thought provoking!
it's not a healthier lifestyle for everyone. i've seen my fair share of vegetarians with poor diets, overweight, don't work out....plus, there's no accounting for bad genetics.
Yes - you run the same amount of risk of getting hit by a bus.
No, I think that people that eat some meat are just as healthy as vegetarians.
Does eating chickpeas make you impervious to being hit by buses...?
Thought not....
As a vegetarian I agree with you, but the insurance scam, er I mean industry, doesn't look for ways to LOWER premiums only RAISE them! They are the ONLY industry in the country allowed legal "price fixing". Until we, the consumers, get outraged enough to elect people who arent in the insurance industry's pockets, so that we can have state run insurance co-ops, we will be slaves to the insurance industry and their random rules for "life".
It may be a healthier life style, but there are still bad genetics to be considered. Linda McCartney did everything right but still died of breast cancer. I personally knew a woman doctor who was a vegetarian and lived a very healthy life, yet died of a heart attack at 35. I know another vegetarian/runner who died of a heart attack at 48. Bad genes. Yet, one of my aunts smoked and drank, eating meat until she was 92. Good genes.
You must be in the US where we pay a fortune to the insurance companies. If we had a national health insurance program you probably wouldn't be as concerned.
I definitely agree with you about that, it makes so much sense. It has been proven that any kind of vegetarian will have a longer life expectancy than somebody who eats meat, just like it's been proven that smoking lowers life expectancy.
Vegetarians (and other people) suffer from other life-threatening and expensive-to-treat conditions just like their carnivorous counterparts. If it's not heart disease it's something else. Maybe if they do indeed live a little longer, then they'll live long enough to suffer from an age-related debilitating condition that can be expensive to treat - one that comes to mind is osteoarthritis. Or they will need to be treated for cancer. Or they get diabetes. Or Parkinson's. Or Alzheimer's. Or ... As Gilda said: "it's always something".
Perhaps, someday, an insurance company will figure out (and have their figuring backed up with solid data) that this particular style of eating does indeed lower medical costs or allow people to actually live longer and not need expensive medical treatment. Then there's the matter of figuring out who's vegetarian and who isn't. You can test for nicotine in the blood. How do you test for Big Macs?
Another complicator is the fact that many people try on vegetarianism but abandon it. And there's more than one vegetarian-style diet - eggs or not? milk products or not?
In fact, obesity can be a problem even for so-called vegetarians. (I am personally acquainted with a couple of them). They eat too many carbs, so they get fat. Fat is fat whether you got that way from eating too much bread and not exercising (I think this is the case with my friend) or too many hotdogs.
You do pose an interesting question.
Interesting question, but my opinion is you can't prove the health risks between veges and meat eaters without significant studies. The vegan diet can be a dangerous one if you are inexpierienced and uneducated about it, same goes for the vegatarian diet. I have seen vegans in very poor health, and meat eaters in great health, and vice versa. Don't confuse yourself, you cannot compare smokers/nonsmokers to vegetarians and meat eaters, it is not even the same ballpark. It is like the movie super-size me, you can't compare ham to heroin. I am not a vegeatrian but I have reduced my red meat intake to almost nothing for heath reasons and enjoy a few vegan dishes for a change of pace, but there will be no insurance reductions because of it.
I think it would be an administrative nightmare for the insurance companies. I don't think they could ever keep up with knowing for sure who is vegetarian and who is not...
so let me get this u think u should get special attn. b/c u dont eat meat. what type of breaks do u get for being non smokers? smoke can give u cancer, eating langua (cow tounge) woulnt. and dont start w/ that disease stuff b/c i have to watch out for echoli on the greens.
I think they should pay more. According to a psychologist buddy of mine, nearly half his patients are vegetarians, miserable, and self-hating at the same time. Any ideas what a p-shrink costs per session (really, any idea? I've never asked.)? Then the weekly sessions can add up.
Actually, vegetarians can contract heart disease. First, there is the genetic aspect. If your Mom had a heart condition, odds are you do too. Second is some of the "substitutions" you use in your diets that are rich in saturated fats (nuts, avocado, et cetera). Your call.
I eat healthy, but I'm not going to give up something I love... like chicken or beef.
Hmmm, I wonder why Yahoo doesn't have an "Omnivore" section here?
edit:No,I don't think we should pay less,there is no way to really tell.That is why I posted the other information.If people actually had to pay the full price,then less people would eat it.
I think people should have to pay for the true price of meat.If people had to pay for the water that went into an animal,the cheapest pound of hamburger meat would be 35 dollars.Two economists calculated that subsidizing water cost of California's meat industry cost is 24 billion dollars annually,also consider that California imports most of it's meat .They should also have to pay for a tax to dispose of the animals manure,since everyone pays taxes to build sewer systems for our waste,we need sewer systems for animals' waste too.Half of all the water consumed in the U.S. goes towards raising animals for food.For every sixteen pounds of food you put into livestock you get one pound back.Animals in the U.S. create 140 times the excrement of the people in the U.S. Three days of a meat eating diet uses more water than you would use for showering in a whole year(assuming you shower everyday).A meat eating diet requires 31/2 acres per year,a vegan diet requires only 1/6 an acre.So you can feed about twenty vegans on the same amount of land as one meat eater.Due to housing,transportation,and refrigeration it has been estimated that one gallon of petroleum is used up for every one pound of meat.If the nation were to switch to a vegan diet we could cut our imports on oil by 60%.
okay. wait. why would vegetarians get cheaper health / life insurance again? where is any speck of conclusive evidence to back all that up? if people have healthier lifestyles, sure, than they should be rewarded accordingly. however, two things. a) companies are not going to decide in terms of what you want. they decide on the economic effects. duh. to expect anything else would be an attempt to thwart capitalism, which wouldn't work. ever. b) i disagree with the idea that vegetarians are inherently healthier than meat-eaters. some are, some aren't. fun fact: most anorexists are vegetarians. (that was to make a point: vegetarians are not by definition healthier than everyone else)
Rather the opposite. Vegans (not all of course, but most of them anyway) are used to pay skyhigh prices for so called organic foods from suppliers which are as reliable as the makers of Spam. Therefore you should always pay more. I bet if an insurance company takes the name "Natural Organic Insurance" somebody will actually pay extra for it.
Just because someone is a vegan doesnt make them healthier.Look at Paul Mcartneys wife.
I am sick and tired of vegetarians and their attitudes. One question to all those who say, 'God didn't make us meat eaters.' Well, as a Canadian, I would like to know how our Inuit people would have survived had they been vegetarian? How would those who live in desert enviro's be vegetarian. Oh, it is fine to say we weren't meant to be omnivores, prove it. We have been given the capability to digest meat as well as vegetables and fruit. Or we to deny ourselves.
As for getting free or lower insurance premiums...oh please. Am I to pay for your homeopathic visits, your nauturpathic treatments, your vitamins and supplements you need because of your choices. I don't think so.
The vegetarian's I know go to more "doctors" in a month than I do in a year.
My last physical - My bad cholesterol was under 2.0 - my dr. said he couldn't remember seeing a reading that low.
My good cholesterol was 4.3 - again my dr. had never seen a reading that high.
What do I do, I'm 45, I eat sensibly. I never overeat - don't like the feeling of being stuffed.
Good health is more common sense than diet. When people stop thinking that more is better, perhaps it will be.
NO! BEING A VEGETARIAN DOESNT MEAN THAT YOU SHOULD HAVE CHEAPER INSURANCE. COME ON! THATS JUST CRAZY!
I don't think it matters whether you eat meat or not. Insurance is insurance
alright first off why should you get lower insurance when you guys eat all that organic junk with the parisites and germs? It isn't good to use chemicals but I say the effects of parasites germs and decomposing bacteria is worse.
I think you should get a lower rate for having
good cholesterol readings, good blood pressure
readings and a fat to mass body ratio that
is acceptable or better. I agree with one of the
other users who stated that they may not have
a test that can determine whether a person
is a vegetarian or not.
Ahhhhhh I feel so sorry for you plant killers. Oops is that a pound and a half ground beast in my fridge, oh my, what will the nieghbors think? I'm a Lib that loves MEAT from Chickens to bears. I believe God put the animals here on this earth for the benefit of mankind to enjoy in all ways! I will outlive you!
Stating you are a vegetarian isn't proof that you eat any more healthily than an omnivore(there is plenty of junk food out there that doesn't use animal products).
"For all of you who say there is no proof then explain why one company is offering cheaper rates. One would not if they didn't believe it was worth it. A matter of capitalism."
Well, the people in charge of the company could be vegetarians and are biased:D
no. ive never really considered that. some vegitarians are quite unfit & some people who eat meat are very fit. so thats a no.
i agree with the person that you have the same chances by getting hit by a bus!
Adding on to what people are saying with the "no" belief -
there's actually a blood type out there that requires that the person eat meat - it'd be unfair to include a clause which people could avoid extra taxes when some people don't have that option.
do you just sit at home and think about this things? thats a pretty retart question.
No because anyone can claim to be a vegetarian, and thus get the discount.
The whole point of insurance is to spread the risk. If you extend the reasoning of paying less because you "might" be at less risk, then those who are at more risk will have to pay more. Eventually, that means that those with poor health will be denied insurance. Being denied medical insurance is pretty much a death sentence if a major problem crops up.
The question comes down to one of compassion and charity. How a society cares for its weakest and most disadvantaged members is very telling.