How can lifestyle choice affect the demand for health care services? ?

Question

How can lifestyle choice affect the demand for health care services? ?

Answer 1

Hi Adam,

That's a pretty open ended question but I can give it a try.

Someone who chooses poor food choices, will be heaver, and therefore will likely require more medical care than someone who is healthier.  Studies have shown that people who are heavier have a higher incidents of diabetes, high blood pressure, etc.  Those diseases require treatment that are chronic in nature and can drive up health care costs.  

Another example may be that people who engage in sexual behavior that is considered riskier, i.e., sexual behavior without using birth control, are more likely to have Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD's)  or unplanned pregnancies that require medical treatment and can change the demand for health care services.

Probably the most known answer to the question you posed would be people who smoke.  Once it became publically disclosed that people who smoked drastically increased the demand for health care services, the number of people who smoked went down.  More states passed laws that made smoking in public places less easy, and the costs of cigarettes went up.  

The choices we make, can lead us to need more services, which always end up driving up the costs.

I hope that information proves helpful.

Good luck!

Kathy K

www.premiumwatchdog.com