Why would the government want to encourage the use of medicine in order to...

[Irena]

...prolong people's life? For example, do you think it is beneficial to the government and the economy to have more tax payers? Also, do the rich and poor have equal rights to life prolonging medicine (eg, cancer treatments, dialysis machines ect) Also, since we have the technology to prolong everyones life, should we use it just because we have invented it for the use of treating everyone who has a chance to possibly live longer (thus linking back to contributing more to the economy and such)?

[only1]

If it means healthier as well as longer lives,why wouldn't they? I mean,wouldn't anyone be willing to work up til' 100 years old. Me personally, i would like to work right to the very day I die or at least I knew for show I was to0 frail to hold on to any job at all.

[Helmut]

In theory, in a republic the government wants to prolong people's lives because that is the will if the vast majority of the people who elect the lawmakers.

The rich and the poor have never had equal access to medical treatment, and probably never will, even in countries with socialized medicine. Few doctors come from the ranks of the poor, and of those that do, even fewer wish to return.

Of course we should use whatever technology we possess for everyone. In case you haven't noticed, the wealthy are a greater burden on the economy than the poor, and innovation rarely comes from one who is satisfied.