John Crown (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I beg the indulgence of the Minister. I wish to make another point. I do not think it would undermine the principles of community rating if we put a policy of incentives in place regarding private health premiums to incentivise healthy behaviours and lifestyles. Somebody cannot choose not to be old, therefore we as a community decide to rate them in the same way as we rate young people for health insurance, which is correct. Somebody cannot choose his or her family history, therefore it is fair that people can benefit from community rating and not be undermined in the event that they have an adverse genetic endowment which could potentially leave them with a higher risk of suffering from a potentially expensive illness.

People, however, can make certain decisions with respect to their lifestyle. During his term, would the Minister consider examining the possibility of certain incentives whereby non smokers or people with a certain BMI could get a discount on their health insurance premiums? These are all things which are attainable for everybody. Everybody can stop smoking if they try hard enough.