One thing to remember is that smokers and drinkers already pay huge extra amounts of tax. Im not talking about charging them more im on about charging antivaxxers in line with the extra expense they add to the health budget.I believe we should have a universal health care system but a statement like this is meaningless. As we already know medicare does not cover dentistry, specialists and other important services. We also accept there is a range of insurances required outside of medicare for a variety of reasons such as travel, work place accidents etc; so the concept of medicare being universal is not as universal as people think.
We also have triage and the allocation of resources that determines who gets and who doesn't get services under medicare.
What I am proposing is "prevention" is better than cure. With swiping medicare cards changing risk behaviours and lifestyle choices through education and awareness.
An example raised by kranky al was ICU for unvaxxed patients. Should they get this service for free? or should they be billed and those additional resources used to improve the health system?
The same argument goes for an alcoholic and a kidney transplant, especially if their are two candidates. Unfortunately brutal choices need to be made in triage and I'd suggest swiping medicare cards for alcohol, cigarettes and fast food will assist medical practitioners and scientists in making informed decisions.