Question

Luke, an HR manager at Ford, argues that health insurance should cost more for smokers or overweight people. Those are personal choices and we shouldn’t all pay more fees to cover their cost. Matthew says no. Other people have less obvious health risks. We should hang together, instead of dividing up the insurance pool. What principles might cause them to disagree?

Answer 1

Luke is probably a libertarian who is a staunch defender of individual rights but also of individual responsibility. For this reason, he thinks that people who are not responsible with their own bodies and either smoke, or get overweight, should pay more for health insurance, because their medical treatment are likely to be more costly.

Matthew is probably a progressive liberal, or a social democrat. He believes that the greater good of society is more important than personal responsibility. He thinks that overweight people or smokers should have a right to health insurance regardless of the state of their bodies.