Note that smoking is actually a net benefit. Smokers tend to die about the time that they start collecting retirement benefits. So, they pay in their entire working lives and get almost no return. (Black men are particularly hosed by this while non-smoking white women make out like crazy.)
Better preventative care doesn't reduce costs, it increases them.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/08/business/08leonhardt.html?...
Note that smoking is actually a net benefit. Smokers tend to die about the time that they start collecting retirement benefits. So, they pay in their entire working lives and get almost no return. (Black men are particularly hosed by this while non-smoking white women make out like crazy.)