The Obesity rates in America makes Universal Healthcare unaffordable. Do you agree?

[Hagar88]

Health insurance like any insurance only works if the majority of people aren't using it. If everyone is using it the whole system falls apart or needs to charge more money.

Agree

Disagree

[WindAtMyBack]

That's one of many factors. Obesity should be addressed the same way cigarette smoking was. Tax the hell out of it to help offset the medical costs, along with a major campaign to reduce obesity. Tax the type of "foods" that are major contributors to obesity. Tax Coke and Pepsi products $5 per liter. Tax everything else with a fat or sugar percentage over a certain amount. Smokers were treated like lepers. Do the same with obese people.

But that is only part of the problem. The government is inept and inefficient at doing pretty much everything, including health care. As someone who has been on Medicare since I was 65, I look at how it's done and I'm convinced that no more than half the money spent by Medicare actually goes to medical costs.

There is a severe shortage of doctors and other medical professionals. The federal government is fully aware of it, and so are the state governments. My state has an interactive map that shows how severe the shortage is by county. 4-6 months to get a routine medical exam, assuming you can find a doctor to take you at all? Come on now!

There are not enough medical schools, not even close. How many years does it take to plan, appropriate the funds, and build a medical school? Then time to get doctors through the pipeline of med school, residency, specialty, etc. If they started right now, which isn't happening, it would take at least a decade before it even started to have an effect. So start already. Push really hard to get new medical schools.

Get rid of that idiotic HIPAA nonsense. I totally understand the reasoning behind it and even agree with it, but the implementation sucks badly. It basically cuts the number of hospital beds in half. Like WTF? Talk about a cost driver!

Stop supplementing the rest of the world's health care costs. The US does half the world's medical research. Not long ago it was more like 70+% Who pays for that? The rest of the world? Nope, we do.

The list is endless. But the question is about universal health care. That means the government, the same government that everyone complains about, the same government that is inefficient to the extreme.

[Hagar88]

I agree. Obese people should be taxed for being obese.

[WindAtMyBack]

It shouldn't be a tax on the people, but on the stuff that makes them fat. Fat people should not be punished, just motivated.

I know a doctor who says that "free" health care won't work. You gotta hit them in the wallet. As long as it's paid for by someone else, they aren't motivated enough to improve their health. It's unfortunate that they don't improve their health to be more healthy, but when it costs them, they get motivated. For *some* people. money is more important than health.

[Hagar88]

Well if there were special camps we could concentrate them and motivate them to lose weight maybe that'd work.

[Massageman]

I agree that it is only one of dozens- or hundreds- of factors that make "universal" healthcare a joke. When I was a kid, a doc visit was $5. $2 for the exam per se, plus $3 for my shots. Any number of shots. Didn't matter. The serums were cheap. The BIG cost was to run the autoclave to sterilize the reusable needles!!! Our last cost for a routine doc exam was $316, or 158 times what it was when I was a kid.

[Anonymous]

The same industry that is pushing processed food is profiteering from the healthcare and insurance business.

[Hagar88]

True but also its Americans. Was in KFC a while back and there people eating the entire family bucket as a meal washed down with a litre of cola on their own. Its greed and gluttony

[Opinion Owner]

It's what is marketed to them constantly. Pretty much everyone below $100,000 lives like that.

[Hagar88]

Thats a choice. Its not the food its the volume of food.

[XXblack88]

Of course I agree America's welfare programs are taking a hit there no way universal health care would work

[Hagar88]

I also think they are asking for it to do too much. Like contraceptive pills, viagra, penis pumps, tampons etc even tylonol. Just buy that stuff over the counter. Tylonol is like $4 in wallmart, costs health insurance about $15 for the same box.

[XXblack88]

Universal Healthcare isn't free those just cause their not paying for it doesn't mean someone else isn't

[Hagar88]

This is true. But even if everyone who uses it is paying for it, the more unhealthy people that need it the higher health insurance rates go up. If America was a healthier country health insurance would cost nothing and even those who aren't paying towards it but maybe need treatment for a broken arm could get it easily because it comes off a very broad back.

[XXblack88]

That's the point they don't want us healthy and want us sick cause we are easier to control. If you want a healthier country it's starts with our gov. and the food companies who allow to use pesticides, GMO's and hormones etc on our food once that's done you'll have less people visiting the Dr. and more healthy people.

[Hagar88]

Thats why fat acceptance is such bullshit.

[XXblack88]

I get that

[fivebyfour]

UK here, yes obesity is such a drain on resources on the NHS, but benefits can be very generous if you play the system by keeping yourself obese and therefore disabled so you don't need to work,,,

[Hagar88]

They do that here in the states to.

[Spencer10]

Canada has high obesity rates as well. Maybe not quite like the USA but our healthcare is still handing in there.

[Hagar88]

Canada has how many people?

[Spencer10]

41 million and change I think.

[Hagar88]

Well there you go. Eventually it will collapse under the weight

[exitseven]

there are a lot of chronic conditions that are caused by obesity. These cost the healthcare system billion every year.

[Sevenpointfive]

obesity is a choice. how does it make it unaffordable? if it's paid for it's paid for. there is no budget. everyone gets an organ ordered straight from israel!

[AngryCarl3]

That's completely illogical. Obesity isn't inherent, it's a lifestyle issue. And universal healthcare is affordable everywhere except the US. So what's different? Oh yes, corporate greed.

[Hagar88]

What's the difference is that in say Denmark people are healthy and rarely need to use the healthcare system because they aren't obese, in America weve huge numbers of obesity related health problems. Diabetes, heart problems, strokes, gout, cancers etc.
Its just like your car insurance, if there were 50% more insurance claims then your car insurance renewal next year would be up 50%

[Cidknee]

Im 80% obese at the moment. Been laid up by a car runover.

[In_Trance]

Every for profit healthcare system should be user pay

[ABC1x1x]

Its a problem but not even a fraction of universal Healthcare for illegal aliens and Healthcare tourists from Canada and England

[Hagar88]

You know England have a national health insurance. If they go to America they are paying.

[jahaims]

More is spent now than what would be spent in universal Healthcare

[Hagar88]

More would be spent on universal healthcare

[Likes2drive]

It’s definitely true

[strateguy632]

Good point

[queenofcardio]

Agree

[Anonymous]

Haha