Long, healthy lives cost more?

Did anyone else come across this bizarre news:

Actually, a long, healthy life costs more

The sub-headline proclaims that “treating obesity and smoking is cheaper than keeping folks fit.” According to the article, a recent Dutch study found that thin, healthy adults cost the health system more because they live longer. I find myself baffled – did the authors not think to include lifetime earning capacity into the equation? Surely productivity of healthier individuals – which translates into profits – counters the “excessive” healthcare costs they rack up during their long lifetimes, as Bloom/Canning and others (and logic) have pointed out. And what about quality of life for healthy vs unhealthy individuals? Would it not have made more sense to compare ANNUAL healthcare costs, rather than lifetime healthcare costs? Or to compare these figures to lifetime earnings/productivity? What was the point of this study? Were the authors trying to prove that, contrary to popular belief, turning the entire population into obese smokers will make the world a better place and save governments and health systems millions?

Good grief.