The government’s share of healthcare spending has been growing since the inception of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965.
The tax credits, exchanges, and medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA or “Obamacare”) have the Congressional Budget Office predicting that the share of healthcare spending that the government bears will grow.
Something to Consider: Lifestyle choices like obesity and diabetes lead to increased healthcare costs, and as the government takes on a bigger role in bearing those costs, does it have a duty to the taxpayer to discourage those behaviors?
Do you feel that such discouragement would infringe on personal liberties, and the taxpayer should bear these expenses? Or do you feel that the government has a mandate to manage these lifestyle behaviors for the sake of the taxpayer and fiscal soundness?
What are the implications and complications with either choice?
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