Slightly different take, but the fact is that we will all become infirm at some point regardless of optimization. In my case, beyond doing the best I can do with what nature and nurture has blessed upon me, I planned for enough FI to get hips, knees, (insert elective) procedure early in my advanced age.
Currently, the contingency on why I continue to work is that it does not interfere with my exercise regimen. But I sometimes 'take one for the team' when the company pays business travel, maybe for a few more years. I would never experience many of these things on my own dime, while getting paid extra for the privilege.
Long story short, I think younger workers should leverage that companies generally do want a healthy workforce. Lower medical insurance costs, less sick days, more productive. And if you hang in there long enough, you might even appreciate how well the company treats a spry yet experienced worker.
Also, as a side note, I find it a little counter-intuitive that ER 'saves us' from dying at our desk or getting old. My work enables a 'fast life' where I spend time being productive and challenged and time constrained, *treasuring* limited free time, as opposed to the *luxury* of thinking about and writing articles about the inevitable and immutable downsides to being mortal. A minority of people die at their desk, but even then, it's not like they were wasting time knowing they were going to die. And as a small consolation, their heirs are fortunate - they are well cared for by insurance (as intended).
On the other hand, us ER folks, if we do die early despite our bravado and lower stress; we leave our heirs with nothing 'extra' to cover this (and other) risks.