Political experts let me know about healthcare

Yeah, I want government files detailing my eating habits and lifestyle choices. This is just grand.

 

I'm happy that your happy that the government would like to take away MY freedom because it doesn't effect you... (shhhhh nobody tell him that any freedom that is removed affects him because no matter how his or his child's situations change for the better or worse in the future he will NEVER have this freedom again.) Thanks for taking this freedom from my children.

I also love the fact that you want the government to take money from the healthy(hopefully you) to pay for the sick(hopefully not you). This is the same government that is 2 trillion dollars in debt. Ya, they can probably do that without screwing it up. Do you have any relatives that just can't seem to get it together? I think you should hand your checkbook over to them and let them manage your finances. They probably can't do any worse than the U.S. government. You ever heard of Social Security? I can't wait for Social Medicine to be in the same shape.

I just don't understand why people can't see that taking away your freedom is bad. It truly saddens me how far our great country has fallen that the people actually don't want to be free anymore. People actually think that they are better off letting the idiots in congress take care of them. These same congressmen are not going to be using this plan you know, they know it sucks and don't want it for themselves. I'm sure it's good enough for you though.

 

Nearly 10 percent of health spending for obesity
Report: Treating weight-related diseases costs U.S. $147 billion
The Associated Press
updated 10:00 a.m. PT, Tues., July 28, 2009

WASHINGTON - Obesity's not just dangerous, it's expensive. New research shows medical spending averages $1,400 more a year for an obese person than someone who's normal weight.

Overall obesity-related health spending reaches $147 billion, double what it was nearly a decade ago, says the study published Monday by the journal Health Affairs.

Don't blame things like stomach-stapling for all those extra bills. They instead reflect the costs of treating diabetes, heart disease and other ailments far more common for the overweight, concluded the study by government scientists and the nonprofit research group RTI International.

RTI health economist Eric Finkelstein offers a blunt message for lawmakers trying to revamp the health care system: "Unless you address obesity, you're never going to address rising health care costs."

Obesity-related conditions now account for 9.1 percent of all medical spending, up from 6.5 percent in 1998, the study concluded.

Health economists have long warned that obesity is a driving force behind the rise in health spending. For example, diabetes costs the nation $190 billion a year to treat, and excess weight is the single biggest risk factor for developing diabetes. Moreover, obese diabetics are the hardest to treat, with higher rates of foot ulcers and amputations, among other things.

The new study's look at per-capita spending may offer a shock to the wallets of people who haven't yet heeded straight health warnings.

"Health care costs are dramatically higher for people who are obese and it doesn't have to be that way," said Jeff Levi of the nonprofit Trust for America's Health, who wasn't involved in the new research.

"We have ways of changing behavior and changing those health outcomes so that we don't have to deal with the medical consequences of obesity," added Levi, who advocates community-based programs that promote physical activity and better nutrition.

About a third of adult Americans are obese, and the obesity rate rose 37 percent between 1998 and 2006, the years covered by Monday's study.

Prescription drugs for obesity-related illnesses account for much of the rise in spending. Medicare spends about $600 more per year on prescriptions for an obese beneficiary than a normal-weight one, the study found.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32170526/ns/health-health_care/

I think obesity rates are still rising in the US, so that percentage of cost will rise.

Lose some weight fatties.

 

SS - different topic.

However, medicare and medicaid are far more efficient than private enterprise. They suffer because the premiums no longer account for the reality of rising costs and longer lives.

Alternatively, please explain why these programs are not effective?

 

On the CNBC "Meeting of the Minds" special last night, Michael Milken said “If the average weight of Americans simply returned to early 1990s levels, the reduction in chronic-disease costs would boost our economy annually by an estimated $1 trillion – at no cost to the government.”

He also said that if this happened, we could quadruple medical research funding without taking any money.

I don't know how true all of that is, but its interesting.

 

I thought that was a big talking point by BOTH candidates during the campaign; to offer incentives through healthy living. I'm already receiving that now with my insurance. I get small discounts on my monthly premiums for completing a healthy living assessment at the beginning of the year and for enrolling in a healthy living program (like a fitness or diet program).

 

I don't recall "Freedom to pay a high deductable" was ever a Constitutional issue.

 

I have to admit I don't understand much about the health care proposals or fully the criticism leveled against it in this article. From what I can gather it seems to me that those with enough will still continue to enjoy the freedoms spelled out in the article.

Also I don't think what the article is talking about is exactly "freedoms" as at the moment there are no rights to anything that it mentions. What it appears to be talking about is "privileges" that our system as it is currently set up provides for us.

 

this is the talking point which I'm sure you understand. the underlying theme, obama is a non american muslim right wing christian leftist manchurian candidate here to take your freedoms

didn't you see the tea parties

 

The ones I went to had scones and finger sandwiches.

 

Bingo. Health insurance companies are driven by profit motive. Nothing fundamentally wrong with that, but it leads to some less-than-ideal outcomes from a healthcare perspective.

For example, a health insurance company doesn't want to insure people that will cost them money. So they deny insurance to people with significant issues and make it cheap for people with few/none (young people, for example). What good does that do? How does that help from a health perspective by denying insurance (or making it unaffordable) to the people that need it the most? The idea of insurance is absolutely to spread the risk amongst everyone and everyone would share the burden. Yes, the young would pay more now - and they would pay less later.

 

Employer health care is part of the problem of uninsured here. It made sense in a world where you worked for the same company your whole life, but not nearly as much sense today. If you lose or leave your job, you not only lose your income, but you lose your health insurance. COBRA is nice (a gov't mandate, by the way), but that only works if all jobs provide health insurance. Otherwise, if you had any pre-existing conditions, you're screwed. I would, at minimum, make the following changes:

1. Eliminate the tax subsidy to make individual and employer plans compete on a level playing field.

2. Allow people to opt out of group coverage for individual coverage, with the company paying the same amount towards that individual plan. This costs nothing for the company and increases competition in the marketplace.

3. Allow people who lose their jobs through no fault of their own (same standard as unemployment benefits) to keep their employer group coverage indefinitely as long as they pay the premium. This should have no opposition - it doesn't affect the employer, insurance companies get an additional customer, and employees get an additional option.

None of these things have any real drawbacks and would reduce the number of uninsured.

 

HMO's suck. If I can't get a PPO I will regret voting for Obama. He better not take PPO's away.

Primary Care physicians are morons. They are good for basic stuff like when you have strep throat - but really don't know jack. They have misdiagnosed things that have led to real problems. I had bone chips and a doctor told me it was tennis elbow! Took years before i finally went to a specialist and they were able to correct the problem. They laughed when I said my doctor said it was tennis elbow and it just needed rest and support.

I don't think Obama would do that....I really hope not. He can't, because if he did, it would be political suicide.

 

I haven’t read the whole bill yet, but could someone point me to the section that republicans seem to be focusing on pertaining to killing the elderly as a cost cutting measure.

first I've heard of this

 

BTW rhester aren’t you a good friend of Ron Paul?

You should ask him about the type of coverage he has and if he likes it and if Americans should have access to the same type of coverage.

I bet you’ll be surprised at his answer

 

'healthy living' is one of the most annoying arguments made. People say aw we dont need health care reform, just work out and stop eating so much.

Many expensive health problems are simply unavoidable. Look at Lance Armstrong, you can't live healthier than he does, yet he developed a cancer which would have bankrupted most Americans.

You can run every day, but if heart disease is in your genes, you are going to have problems as you age.

 

You can also eat nothing but junk food and sweets with the occasional fruit and vegetable, spend half your free time playing video and the other half watching tv, become obese and develop type II diabetes before you hit 21.

And that's not gonna be a big strain on the system? Living healthy still might not prevent bad things from happening, but it certainly will help. And just like good drivers are rewarded in lower premiums, why shouldn't people who eat right and exercise and get regular checkups be allowed the same benefit?

 

hum...

And yet most likely takes advantage of gov sponsored healthcare (for life) that studies have shown is one of the best coverages in the country. I'd really be interested if he believes average Americans don't deserve the same care that he and his family enjoy..

 

These are great. Thanks for posting them.