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300 Billion to care for fat people, and more for smokers


John Adams

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Yeah, let's keep forcing insurers to cover people who serially abuse their bodies at the same rates that they charge those who try to take care of them. Makes good sense. Go get 'em government.

 

 

 

"There is a tsunami of chronic preventable disease about to be unleashed into our medical-care system which is increasingly unaffordable," says Reed Tuckson of United Health Foundation, sponsor of the report with the American Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention.

 

Using weight data, Census statistics and medical expenditure information, Thorpe found:

 

•An obese person will have an average of $8,315 in medical bills a year in 2018 compared with $5,855 for an adult at a healthy weight. That's a difference of $2,460.

 

•If the percentage of obese adults doesn't change but stays at the current rate of 34%, then excess weight will cost the nation about $198 billion by 2018.

 

•If the obesity rate continues to rise until 2018, then Colorado may be the only state with less than 30% of residents who are obese.

 

•More than 50% of the population in several states could be obese by 2018: Oklahoma, Mississippi, Maryland, Kentucky, Ohio and South Dakota.

 

The report adds to the growing body of evidence of obesity's impact on medical costs. A study released in July showed that obese Americans cost the country about $147 billion in weight-related medical bills in 2008, double what it was a decade ago. It now accounts for about 9.1% of medical spending.

 

Overall, the United States spends about $1.8 trillion a year in medical costs associated with chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer, and all three are linked to smoking and obesity, the nation's two largest risk factors, according to the America's Health Rankings report.

 

Smoking is still the No. 1 preventable cause of death in the country, accounting for about 440,000 deaths annually, the report says.

 

About one in five Americans smoke. More than 3 million people quit smoking this past year. The percentage of people who smoke varies by state, from 9.3% in Utah to more than 25% in Kentucky, Indiana and West Virginia, the study says.

 

 

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/weight...gle+Feedfetcher

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There are fatties like Limbaugh and Couric that are both conservative and liberal.

 

I think Adams' original point was that fat people are a drag on the system. While I don't disagree, and I have as much or more respect for old people than anyone, I think we all know who is the real drag on the system.

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Yeah, let's keep forcing insurers to cover people who serially abuse their bodies at the same rates that they charge those who try to take care of them. Makes good sense. Go get 'em government.

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/weight...gle+Feedfetcher

On a serious note JA, I've been talking about this for quite some time, not the exact same thing but related. If the new health bill is going to enforce insurance companies to insure people with pre existing conditions, then it is natural that everyone's premiums will rise as a result of it. That's just common sense.

 

Same thing here, if insurers can't raise the premiums significantly on people that are smokers and overweight, then it's natural everyone's premiums will rise.

 

The problem is that politicians are always looking for the quick fix solution. The best solution to our health care problems is having a healthy society.

 

I am for incentivizing a good healthy life style. Schools shouldn't offer pizza, burgers and fries, and should promote healthy foods.

 

Healthy foods that are brought to the market should get tax breaks. There should also be a huge national campaign to promote exercising.

 

As far as I'm concerned, tax cigarretes even more so. These solutions won't offer timely results but in the long run they will be more effective than any of the reforms that are bei ng proposed today.

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Soon our Dear Leader will be imposing a Calorie Cap as part of our involuntary, state mandated health care entitlement program. Penalties for going over the cap will include fines and/or imprisonment, depending on the amount of the violation. Unauthorized consumption of pizza and wings will be punishable with a mandatory minimum sentence of 1 year in The Party's maximum security reconditioning center.

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Soon our Dear Leader will be imposing a Calorie Cap as part of our involuntary, state mandated health care entitlement program. Penalties for going over the cap will include fines and/or imprisonment, depending on the amount of the violation. Unauthorized consumption of pizza and wings will be punishable with a mandatory minimum sentence of 1 year in The Party's maximum security reconditioning center.

 

Nope. He's a smoker. His solution involves insuring everyone at the same rates regardless of their poor life choices.

 

99% of fat !@#$s don't need to be. 100% of smokers can stop.

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Costs aside, I can't believe that 34% of the US is considered obese, and that number could rise to 50% in nine more years. That is some scary crap right there.

To me, it raises questions about our understanding of the true cause of the "obesity epidemic". I've seen some interesting research indicating that it may have something to do with changes in the composition of the bacterial flora in many Americans. We may eventually find a medical cure to obesity. Laziness on the other hand...

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To me, it raises questions about our understanding of the true cause of the "obesity epidemic". I've seen some interesting research indicating that it may have something to do with changes in the composition of the bacterial flora in many Americans. We may eventually find a medical cure to obesity. Laziness on the other hand...

 

Give me a !@#$ing break already. Fine: look for a cure, but don't spend my money to look for it OK?

 

Hey look: I found a cure. I eat less.

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