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Americans Are Dying Younger, Saving Corporations Billions (bloomberg.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Steady improvements in American life expectancy have stalled, and more Americans are dying at younger ages. But for companies straining under the burden of their pension obligations, the distressing trend could have a grim upside: If people don't end up living as long as they were projected to just a few years ago, their employers ultimately won't have to pay them as much in pension and other lifelong retirement benefits. In 2015, the American death rate -- the age-adjusted share of Americans dying -- rose slightly for the first time since 1999. And over the last two years, at least 12 large companies, from Verizon to General Motors, have said recent slips in mortality improvement have led them to reduce their estimates for how much they could owe retirees by upward of a combined $9.7 billion, according to a Bloomberg analysis of company filings. "Revised assumptions indicating a shortened longevity," for instance, led Lockheed Martin to adjust its estimated retirement obligations downward by a total of about $1.6 billion for 2015 and 2016, it said in its most recent annual report.
Mortality trends are only a small piece of the calculation companies make when estimating what they'll owe retirees, and indeed, other factors actually led Lockheed's pension obligations to rise last year. Variables such as asset returns, salary levels, and health care costs can cause big swings in what companies expect to pay retirees. The fact that people are dying slightly younger won't cure corporate America's pension woes -- but the fact that companies are taking it into account shows just how serious the shift in America's mortality trends is.
Mortality trends are only a small piece of the calculation companies make when estimating what they'll owe retirees, and indeed, other factors actually led Lockheed's pension obligations to rise last year. Variables such as asset returns, salary levels, and health care costs can cause big swings in what companies expect to pay retirees. The fact that people are dying slightly younger won't cure corporate America's pension woes -- but the fact that companies are taking it into account shows just how serious the shift in America's mortality trends is.
Thanks to sugar in the Standard American Diet (SAD).
Heck, a recent poll showed only 25% of America trusted our president but 33% approved of him. Those numbers don't add up...
I'm actually surprised that it's that close. I'm assuming you think that it's impossible to approve of someone you don't trust. I live in the bible belt and I know a ton of religious people who held their nose and voted for Trump. They don't trust him and think he's disgusting but they trusted Hillary even less and for the most part even though they still don't trust him, they mostly approve of what he's doing. From what I've seen, I would say 75% of the people I know who voted for Trump approve of what he's doing while less than 25% of them actually trust him.
You see, I have this plan. It's exquisitely clever and diabolical. I hesitate to mention it because then everybody will want to do it, so don't tell anyone.
Sshh, here it is: I PLAN TO LIVE FOREVER ! And the best part is: SO FAR IT'S WORKING !
...omphaloskepsis often...
I don't think so. Let's do the math:
According to the CDC, obesity related healthcare costs America $147 billion per year.
There are 300 million Americans, and roughly half are fatties, so let's figure $1000 per fat person in extra healthcare expense.
If they are fat for 50 years of their life, that would cost an extra $50k per fatty.
Obesity reduces male life expectancy by 8 years, and female life expectancy by 6 years, on average.
Each year an average retiree costs $9990 in medicare and $16092 in social security, so roughly $26k total.
So by dying sooner, a male fatty would save taxpayers 8*26k = $208k.
A female fatty would save us 6*26k = $156k.
Even accounting for the additional healthcare cost over their life, by dying early they are a BIG win over skinny people.
Maybe we should offer tax breaks and other inducements to encourage people to gain weight.
All the figures used in this post were obtained by quick Google searches. Specific citations will be provided on request.
Universal health means principles of preventative health care https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/..., are applied by government upon a national basis and there is greater incentive for the government to ensure a healthy environment and more effective system of social welfare to ensure a healthier status upon average is maintained. A for profit system, means, once the user is bankrupt, there is no profit in providing health care, well, excluding overloading them with debt, to seize any remaining assets post death, from lack of health service and medication.
The reason why people are healthier in universal health care countries, is the government has an incentive to keep them that way because it is much cheaper. The reason why people are sicker if for profit health care nations because everyone has an incentive to keep the sicker to extract more profits out of them before they die.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen