Is this the root cause of America's health care problems?

[alan1]

The USA is the fattest nation in the world. We have an obesity rate of 30.6%. That is not just people that are overweight, that is people so overweight they have been classified as obese.
Obesity Statistics
How does obesity affect one's health? Obesity contributes to all of the following, and probably more.

The health problems associated with obesity are numerous. Obesity is not just a cosmetic problem. It's a health hazard. Someone who is 40% overweight is twice as likely to die prematurely as is a normal-weight person. Obesity has been linked to several serious medical conditions, including:

Heart disease and stroke.
High blood pressure.
Diabetes.
Cancer.
Gallbladder disease and gallstones.
Osteoarthritis.
Gout.
Breathing problems, such as sleep apnea (when a person stops breathing for a short episodes during sleep) and asthma.

Also,

Heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of death and disability for people in the U.S. Overweight people are more likely to have high blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke, than people who are not overweight. Very high blood levels of cholesterol can also increase risk of heart disease and often are linked to being overweight.

Source
The USA doesn't have a "healthcare crisis", we have a fat-ass crisis. It is time for the fat people to start paying their fair share for medical insurance. Anybody with a BMI over 30 should be paying higher premiums for health insurance.

 

[AmyNation]

Obese people typically pay higher premiums .

 

[percysunshine]

The root cause of a lot of health care problems is that too many 3rd parties are involved in what usually only needs to be a simple 2 party doctor patient relationship.

 

[Sallow]

Greed is the root cause of America's health care problems.

Simple enough.

 

[Dugdale_Jukes]

All of the above.

 

[alan1]

Obese people typically pay higher premiums .

I've seen lots of cases where smokers pay higher premiums for their employer sponsored health insurance, but none where obese people do. That could just be my ignorance, can you provide some examples?

 

[alan1]

The root cause of a lot of health care problems is that too many 3rd parties are involved in what usually only needs to be a simple 2 party doctor patient relationship.

That isn't a root cause of health care problems, but it may be a root cause of health care cost increases.

 

[alan1]

Greed is the root cause of America's health care problems.

Simple enough.

Other than you saying so, got any statistics or proof to support that claim?

 

[percysunshine]

The root cause of a lot of health care problems is that too many 3rd parties are involved in what usually only needs to be a simple 2 party doctor patient relationship.

That isn't a root cause of health care problems, but it may be a root cause of health care cost increases.

I would propose that cost is the dominant problem with health care. Kind of hard to disentangle that number from the general issue.

 

[dblack]

No

 

[AmyNation]

Employers Charging The Overweight More For Health Insurance | On Point with Tom Ashbrook

Company Health Plans Increase Costs for Smokers, Obese

Health Insurance Premiums and Obesity


The company I used to work for had higher premiums for smokers and the obese. Although I can't say if it was the insurance company or the employers decision.

 

[alan1]

Employers Charging The Overweight More For Health Insurance | On Point with Tom Ashbrook

Company Health Plans Increase Costs for Smokers, Obese

Health Insurance Premiums and Obesity


The company I used to work for had higher premiums for smokers and the obese. Although I can't say if it was the insurance company or the employers decision.

Thank you.
The second link specifically mentions Walmart for increasing insurance costs for tobacco users. All of the links mention increases in insurance for obesity but none of them state an actual company that has done it. I would really like to know some specific companies that have increased insurance costs for obese people.
Like Walmart, my employer has added surcharges to smokers, but neither Walmart or my employer has added surcharges to the obese.

 

[Katzndogz]

Go back about 15 years to before the standards were changed. Obesity rates in the US were no defferent than those elsewhere in the world. When the standards were changed millions of people went to bed of a normal weight and woke up obese.

Obesity is as much of a lie as anything else the government comes up with.

 

[AmyNation]

Body Mass Index (BMI) Calculator for Insurance Purposes


This is a BMI calculator and it has a list of the insurance companies that use the BMI to base premiums on.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

Go back about 15 years to before the standards were changed. Obesity rates in the US were no defferent than those elsewhere in the world. When the standards were changed millions of people went to bed of a normal weight and woke up obese.

Obesity is as much of a lie as anything else the government comes up with.

Right on cue.

LOL

 

[Katzndogz]

It's not my fault you're stupid.

Fattening the Obesity Statistics, Arnold Kling, GQE | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

In 1998, the U.S. Government changed the standards by which body mass index is measured. As a result, close to 30 million Americans were shifted from a government-approved weight to the overweight and obese category, without gaining an ounce, Burrita said.

According to an American Medical Association report, 14.5 % of Americans in 1980 were obese, a total of 32,700,000 (based on a population of 226,000,000). If, as the above article states, the numbers of obese Americans have "doubled" in the past twenty years, this would mean there are now about 66 million of them. But thirty million of those fatties were created by a change in definition, so by the standards of 1980 [we would calculate an] obesity percentage of 12.85 percent, an actual decrease in obesity percentage since 1980.

 

[alan1]

Body Mass Index (BMI) Calculator for Insurance Purposes


This is a BMI calculator and it has a list of the insurance companies that use the BMI to base premiums on.

I wonder if this only used for people seeking insurance on their own, and not employer sponsored insurance. I have never in my life had to supply a BMI to my employer sponsored insurance. And that was what I was looking for, an employer like maybe Walmart or Bank of America or General Motors, that was making employees supply their BMI and setting the employee portion of the insurance accordingly.

 

[alan1]

It's not my fault you're stupid.

Fattening the Obesity Statistics, Arnold Kling, GQE | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

In 1998, the U.S. Government changed the standards by which body mass index is measured. As a result, close to 30 million Americans were shifted from a government-approved weight to the overweight and obese category, without gaining an ounce, Burrita said.

According to an American Medical Association report, 14.5 % of Americans in 1980 were obese, a total of 32,700,000 (based on a population of 226,000,000). If, as the above article states, the numbers of obese Americans have "doubled" in the past twenty years, this would mean there are now about 66 million of them. But thirty million of those fatties were created by a change in definition, so by the standards of 1980 [we would calculate an] obesity percentage of 12.85 percent, an actual decrease in obesity percentage since 1980.

Well, that is a nice link you provided. Essentially it is a blog, and the link in the guys blog is a dead end.
Color me stupid for that.

 

[AmyNation]

I think when it comes to large employer based insurance, charging more to individuals based on their health or the health of their dependent is a violation of HIPPA, unless the charges are tied to a wellness program. Ie, everyone who complete this program gets charged x, and everyone else y. Which is what my former employer did.

 

[alan1]

I think when it comes to large employer based insurance, charging more to individuals based on their health or the health of their dependent is a violation of HIPPA, unless the charges are tied to a wellness program. Ie, everyone who complete this program gets charged x, and everyone else y. Which is what my former employer did.

Not exactly. My employer charges more for people that use nicotine, regardless of their method of intake. For example, not just smokers, but even the use of nicotine gum warrants a surcharge.