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That's one of the advantages of the system in Canada. I can think of others. But on the other hand, why should someone who smokes all their life and doesn't have medical problems have to pay?
Let me put it this way:
Smoking is a high risk activity. Doing it results in an above average rate of health problems.
Heavy eating is also a high risk activity. Should we deny medical services to the overweight? They obviously caused their body considerable damage since they are overweight due to overeating. We should obviously not treat them for heart failure, diabetes or any other condition we can link to overeating.
Male-to-male homosexual sex is highly likely to spread AIDS and other STDs, especially compared to hetero-sex. Canadian Blood Services refuses to allow actively gay men from donating blood because of this. So, since this is a high risk behaviour, we should obviously withold treatment from anyone we suspect has acquired an STDS from the nasty, nasty homo-sex.
Where do you draw this line, Morganni? Who are the people that deserve health care and who are the people that deserve to die. We need a list here. Somethign nice and formal.
Or you could develop some compassion and say that all human beings have an innate right to life and that it is not our job to say who should and should not be treated.
I mean, lung cancer is pretty harsh already. Do we really need to punish smokers more by inflicting crippling poverty on them as well?
As for why people should pay for health care, even if they don't use it?
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
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Epsilon