alt Hacker News>> we'll immediately be at the point where smokers [...] should pay more, after all, their way of life statistically causes higher costs.
> Wait, do they not?
Why should they? It's not obvious at all that smoking causes higher costs; a smoker who gets lung cancer is a smoker who never needs the medical care we give to the elderly.
The smokers who DON'T get lung cancer still have more heart and lung problems (like emphysema, COPD, etc.), and those get significantly worse late in life.