However, at the same time, if someone expects their government (i.e., other tax payers) to pay for their current or future healthcare in terms of providing for Medicare and/or Medicaid coverage and services in the future, then I think that we the tax payers should have some voice - at least through our elected representatives - in being prudent purchasers of health care services.
I have no problem with my employer offering discounts or incentives to me to reduce my health insurance premiums if I make good health choices, get screened and vaccinated, etc... Likewise, if tax payers are paying for other people's healthcare (and I don't foresee this changing in my lifetime, at least to some extent), then I want the government to be a prudent purchaser and consider the same kind of preventive cost-reduction measures that a private employer would consider imposing.
Just sayin' . . . .
Some years ago when I changed jobs my employer mandated that I have some pre-employment screenings... Blood pressure and Diabetes.
I was surprised to find out that I had both high blood pressure and type II diabetes - previously undiagnosed. With subsequent changes in diet and weight, and some blood pressure medication, I no longer have those symptoms and the head aches that were caused by the blood pressure are totally gone. I'm glad that my employer - who I chose to go to work for - had this as a requirement.
Medicaid is not paid for by the recipient-it is paid for by you and me with our tax dollars-it is not medicare-it is welfare.
Medicare is what govt confiscates from your paycheck, along with SS taxes-and you pay for medicare every month out of your SS check for the rest of your life, even if you never use it. It is not medicaid/welfare-it is a government grab.
And as far as I’m concerned, as long as I’m paying taxes and don’t ask govt for a damn thing, what I do with my life is my f’in business...
Sounds reasonable to me.
IOW, you back mandatory screening for diabetes for those over 45.