What's a life worth?

In response to the Medical ROI post on my surgery, a friend sent in the following:

I was thinking about something the other day – after it very randomly popping into my head while at a game – and thought I might share it with you and get your thoughts. It’s not completely dissimilar to some of the thoughts you’ve had on ROI for medical procedures for people.

It has to do with society paying for other people’s multiple births after being pregnant through extraordinary means.

Okay, I’m not sure how best to put this, but here’s where my thinking started and went. The reason it popped into my head was that the pinch hitter for us was a guy who had triplet girls last season, who naturally were in the hospital for a period of time.

It got me thinking… We all pay health insurance, and sadly, some of our health insurance costs are because of what other people are doing. If something bad happens to someone, and they need health care, they are covered. If someone wants elective surgery, often it is not. Is that very different from someone getting pregnant (naturally), and something happening to them or the baby, and needing hospitalization, versus someone spending lots of time and money (usually their own, as insurance won’t often cover fertilization procedures) to get pregnant, often with multiple fetuses as a result of the treatments, which will require more hospitalization or care for the mother, usually, and lots more care for the babies, usually. Is that something that normal insurance should cover, and therefore all of us pay something for in our rates?

Now, I know this wouldn’t be a popular thing amongst my close friends who had to go through such procedures in order to have babies they really want – and I am so thrilled for them to be pregnant when that was the only way for them. But, when the babies need to be in the hospital for a month with special care, and it was almost a given that it would be needed, since it’s twins or triplets, is that just a given to be covered, and us all pay for? If you are pregnant naturally with twins or triplets, then that’s a different story, as you didn’t do anything special to make that happen, and it wasn't intentional.

An interesting question and a tough one, but one that should be asked. I'm much more clear on my positions re: procedures that are required to save people who do what I consider stupid things. Say, a lung transplant for a lifelong smoker or oxygen for that person. This one is a tougher call.