Americans are fat
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Red Stateler wrote:
2. If they really don't care, is it at all sensible that their health care costs be distributed evenly across a group at no extra cost to them (which is generally how group health care works)?
that is how health insurance works, period. in the case of group the costs are distributed across members of the group. in the case of individual health insurance, the group is comprised of all the others who buy insurance under the same policy form (plan). group is cheaper because the rates are sort of negotiated between the carier and the group.
Mike The NYT - my leftist brochure. Calling an illegal alien an “undocumented immigrant” is like calling a drug dealer an “unlicensed pharmacist”. God doesn't believe in atheists, therefore they don't exist.
Mike Gaskey wrote:
that is how health insurance works, period. in the case of group the costs are distributed across members of the group. in the case of individual health insurance, the group is comprised of all the others who buy insurance under the same policy form (plan). group is cheaper because the rates are sort of negotiated between the carier and the group.
So individual health insurance doesn't take the health of the insured into account (and raise the rates or deny coverage to the unhealthy)?
If liberals are not traitors, their only fallback argument at this point is that they're really stupid. -Ann Coulter
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I was told a couple of interesting things by this specialist - he was a gastro-intestinal doctor. I was diagnosed with multiple pre-cancerous lesions in my intestinal tract with no family history of such a condition and at a young age (just glanced at your bio - we're the same age). As a result I am in a high-risk category for bowel cancer. He told me the best things I could do were to: 1. Eat a Mediterranean diet - lots of fish, olive oil, olives, cheese, tomatoes, colourful veggies (think Greek food) 2. Have a glass (one) of red wine with dinner (apparently there is some evidence that red wine in moderate quantities prevents bowel cancer) 3. Stay away from beer :(( (this has been especially hard for me as I love beer) 4. Take whey protein (for the immune system effects) 5. Exercise I also drink alot of green and mint tea. I am very careful to buy foods with no additives or preservatives. I'm lucky now that I'm in France because we have a farmer's market here and I can even buy unpasteurized milk and lots of biological veggies. I must say that the taste of the market vegetables compared to the supermarket vegetables is quite noticeable. As a bonus, they are cheaper too because they come direct from the farmer with no middleman. I've also learned alot about food and cooking recipes for a Mediterranean diet. I recommend it to anyone looking for a healthier way to eat.
I wish the farmer's market was cheaper then the grocery store. As it is you can get organic veggies for about the same as conventional veggies here.
73Zeppelin wrote:
can even buy unpasteurized milk
I've been looking for unpasturized milk, but there isn't a local farmer producing it around here yet. I can get some unpasteurized cheeses and I do that whenever I can, especially goat cheese. Unfortunately I can't eat any aged cheese since it gives me severe headaches. I've been doing a lot of the workouts and following some of the diet advice from Ross Training[^]. The workouts he shows on his website are the ones that he does, which means that they are insanely intense. There are plenty of good beginning body weight exercises on that site that I've been starting off with. I've also given up all alcohol which has been hard since I really enjoy beer and wine.
This blanket smells like ham
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Mike Gaskey wrote:
that is how health insurance works, period. in the case of group the costs are distributed across members of the group. in the case of individual health insurance, the group is comprised of all the others who buy insurance under the same policy form (plan). group is cheaper because the rates are sort of negotiated between the carier and the group.
So individual health insurance doesn't take the health of the insured into account (and raise the rates or deny coverage to the unhealthy)?
If liberals are not traitors, their only fallback argument at this point is that they're really stupid. -Ann Coulter
Red Stateler wrote:
So individual health insurance doesn't take the health of the insured into account (and raise the rates or deny coverage to the unhealthy)?
it does to an extent. a health insurance carrier (individual insurance) will underwrite an insured. Depending on the company guidelines it may or may not cover someone with a health problem. A health problem will ometimes be ridered (specifically excluded from coverage) or be rated (an additional amount added to the premium) or if severe enough the proposed insured will be denied coverage. When I said, "costs distributed across others who buy the same plan", what I was referring to was what takes place after the cotract is issued. Health insurance is a product that is renewable annually and there's no premium freeze. A company tracks their claims experience against premium income by policy form. When the claim costs exceed a certain percentage of the premium income the company can do what is referred to as "re-rate" or increase premiums on the block of business (typically within a policy form and geographic area) - which means the cost of insurance goes up. The effect is that if you're healthy, and have been insured under the same plan for a period of time then your premium costs (personally) are higher than the costs would be if you went and bought another plan. But if you have health problems you need to hold on to the contract you have.
Mike The NYT - my leftist brochure. Calling an illegal alien an “undocumented immigrant” is like calling a drug dealer an “unlicensed pharmacist”. God doesn't believe in atheists, therefore they don't exist.
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Nearly twice as many U.S. adults are obese compared to European, a key factor
leading Americans to suffer more often from cancer, diabetes and other chronic
ailments, a study released on Tuesday found.The United States spends significantly more per capita than any European country on
health care, about $2 trillion annually, or 16 percent of the gross domestic product.
While the big discrepancy has been linked to higher U.S. prices for medical treatment,
the report said a sicker population may also be a factor.So assuming a nationalized health care system displaced the convoluted system we have now, how would that address our relatively unhealthy population? What would be the incentive, short of government mandate, to not be so darned fat? Perhaps if medical bills were actually paid for by individuals, such that if they put down that twinky they might have lower costs...They might actually do so?
If liberals are not traitors, their only fallback argument at this point is that they're really stupid. -Ann Coulter
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Red Stateler wrote:
So individual health insurance doesn't take the health of the insured into account (and raise the rates or deny coverage to the unhealthy)?
it does to an extent. a health insurance carrier (individual insurance) will underwrite an insured. Depending on the company guidelines it may or may not cover someone with a health problem. A health problem will ometimes be ridered (specifically excluded from coverage) or be rated (an additional amount added to the premium) or if severe enough the proposed insured will be denied coverage. When I said, "costs distributed across others who buy the same plan", what I was referring to was what takes place after the cotract is issued. Health insurance is a product that is renewable annually and there's no premium freeze. A company tracks their claims experience against premium income by policy form. When the claim costs exceed a certain percentage of the premium income the company can do what is referred to as "re-rate" or increase premiums on the block of business (typically within a policy form and geographic area) - which means the cost of insurance goes up. The effect is that if you're healthy, and have been insured under the same plan for a period of time then your premium costs (personally) are higher than the costs would be if you went and bought another plan. But if you have health problems you need to hold on to the contract you have.
Mike The NYT - my leftist brochure. Calling an illegal alien an “undocumented immigrant” is like calling a drug dealer an “unlicensed pharmacist”. God doesn't believe in atheists, therefore they don't exist.
Mike Gaskey wrote:
it does to an extent. a health insurance carrier (individual insurance) will underwrite an insured. Depending on the company guidelines it may or may not cover someone with a health problem. A health problem will ometimes be ridered (specifically excluded from coverage) or be rated (an additional amount added to the premium) or if severe enough the proposed insured will be denied coverage.
That's the part I was wondering about (since I've never had individual insurance). As far as my group insurance goes, if somebody weighs 400 pounds, they will pay the same rate as a tri-athlete. So essentially there is no penalty for being willfully unhealthy. That is in contrast to car insurance, which has higher premiums for bad drivers (i.e. those that get into a lot of accidents). All other things being equal, would the rates for somebody who weighs 400 pounds be higher than someone who is athletic under an individual insurance plan?
If liberals are not traitors, their only fallback argument at this point is that they're really stupid. -Ann Coulter
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Bassam Abdul-Baki wrote:
Does human fat get converted into oil after millions of years?
I don't know, but if you connect a generator to an exercise bike, you can convert fat into electricity.
If liberals are not traitors, their only fallback argument at this point is that they're really stupid. -Ann Coulter
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Bassam Abdul-Baki wrote:
Does human fat get converted into oil after millions of years?
I don't know, but if you connect a generator to an exercise bike, you can convert fat into electricity.
If liberals are not traitors, their only fallback argument at this point is that they're really stupid. -Ann Coulter
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Mike Gaskey wrote:
it does to an extent. a health insurance carrier (individual insurance) will underwrite an insured. Depending on the company guidelines it may or may not cover someone with a health problem. A health problem will ometimes be ridered (specifically excluded from coverage) or be rated (an additional amount added to the premium) or if severe enough the proposed insured will be denied coverage.
That's the part I was wondering about (since I've never had individual insurance). As far as my group insurance goes, if somebody weighs 400 pounds, they will pay the same rate as a tri-athlete. So essentially there is no penalty for being willfully unhealthy. That is in contrast to car insurance, which has higher premiums for bad drivers (i.e. those that get into a lot of accidents). All other things being equal, would the rates for somebody who weighs 400 pounds be higher than someone who is athletic under an individual insurance plan?
If liberals are not traitors, their only fallback argument at this point is that they're really stupid. -Ann Coulter
Red Stateler wrote:
All other things being equal, would the rates for somebody who weighs 400 pounds be higher than someone who is athletic under an individual insurance plan?
Yes, if the company would underwrite them and that isn't a given. An insurance company undewrites risk, essentially wagering that you'll not incur more claims expense than average. If you're significantly overweight there is no risk, you will ultimately incure significant claims expense. Sort of like placing a wager when you're certain to lose. Depending on the persons height, the company may rate the the contract by significantly increasing premiums to cover the predictable increased cost. On group the problem is a little different. If the claims cost are significantly more than the compnay anticipated the carrier may not renew the group or do an across the board cost increase.
Mike The NYT - my leftist brochure. Calling an illegal alien an “undocumented immigrant” is like calling a drug dealer an “unlicensed pharmacist”. God doesn't believe in atheists, therefore they don't exist.
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Shog9 wrote:
Having to pay for the treatment of expensive illnesses isn't exactly the only downside of being fat - you also have to, you know, be sick a lot.
The wife and I were walking around a local festival a few weeks ago and she pointed out a few in-"duh"-viduals who must have weighed 400+ lbs. They were barely able to walk and looked quite pained to be doing so. Each was clutching a big bag of greasy, high calorie, high fat food. To me, it's quite obvious that most of the truly obese just don't give a damn.
Mike Mullikin wrote:
The wife and I were walking around a local festival a few weeks ago and she pointed out a few in-"duh"-viduals who must have weighed 400+ lbs. They were barely able to walk and looked quite pained to be doing so. Each was clutching a big bag of greasy, high calorie, high fat food. To me, it's quite obvious that most of the truly obese just don't give a damn.
So based on your observations of two overweight people at a festival you expect us to believe overweight people "don't give a damn"? Of course if it was a festival like those in my home town then there would have been an abundance of health foods available. My conclusion: Americans are fat and make stupid generalizations.
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Mike Mullikin wrote:
The wife and I were walking around a local festival a few weeks ago and she pointed out a few in-"duh"-viduals who must have weighed 400+ lbs. They were barely able to walk and looked quite pained to be doing so. Each was clutching a big bag of greasy, high calorie, high fat food. To me, it's quite obvious that most of the truly obese just don't give a damn.
So based on your observations of two overweight people at a festival you expect us to believe overweight people "don't give a damn"? Of course if it was a festival like those in my home town then there would have been an abundance of health foods available. My conclusion: Americans are fat and make stupid generalizations.
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Shog9 wrote:
Having to pay for the treatment of expensive illnesses isn't exactly the only downside of being fat - you also have to, you know, be sick a lot.
The wife and I were walking around a local festival a few weeks ago and she pointed out a few in-"duh"-viduals who must have weighed 400+ lbs. They were barely able to walk and looked quite pained to be doing so. Each was clutching a big bag of greasy, high calorie, high fat food. To me, it's quite obvious that most of the truly obese just don't give a damn.
Mike Mullikin wrote:
To me, it's quite obvious that most of the truly obese just don't give a damn.
Either that, or they've gone on so many crash diets (where most of the weight lost is muscle and water) that their metabolisms are in the sh*t. Every time they've stopped dieting, they've gained all the weight back and then some. So now they're pretty much stuck... unless they start putting back some of that lost muscle, which is not very easy at 400+ lbs.
Man is a marvelous curiosity ... he thinks he is the Creator's pet ... he even believes the Creator loves him; has a passion for him; sits up nights to admire him; yes and watch over him and keep him out of trouble. He prays to him and thinks He listens. Isn't it a quaint idea. - Mark Twain
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Nearly twice as many U.S. adults are obese compared to European, a key factor
leading Americans to suffer more often from cancer, diabetes and other chronic
ailments, a study released on Tuesday found.The United States spends significantly more per capita than any European country on
health care, about $2 trillion annually, or 16 percent of the gross domestic product.
While the big discrepancy has been linked to higher U.S. prices for medical treatment,
the report said a sicker population may also be a factor.So assuming a nationalized health care system displaced the convoluted system we have now, how would that address our relatively unhealthy population? What would be the incentive, short of government mandate, to not be so darned fat? Perhaps if medical bills were actually paid for by individuals, such that if they put down that twinky they might have lower costs...They might actually do so?
If liberals are not traitors, their only fallback argument at this point is that they're really stupid. -Ann Coulter
Red Stateler wrote:
Perhaps if medical bills were actually paid for by individuals, such that if they put down that twinky they might have lower costs...They might actually do so?
Isn't that the case now? Yet Americans are not "incentivized" enough to be healthy. You know, there's more than one kind of incentive. You don't have to rely on punishment alone, positive incentives and making healthy options more accessible might do a lot to make Americans healthier. More walkable communities instead of far-flung suburbs connected by what are essentially fast-food drive thrus disguised as roads. Better nutrition education. Stronger warnings about junk food. More truth in advertising. This is one of many parts of life the free market has failed, in my opinion. Perhaps if health care costs are carried by government, more effort will be made to control the unhealthy and frankly poisonous lifestyle sold to us by mega-corporations.
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My "conclusions" are based on the 44 years of my life coupled with my own weight problems over those years. I lost 80 pounds when I finally started to give a damn.
Mike Mullikin wrote:
My "conclusions" are based on the 44 years of my life coupled with my own weight problems over those years. I lost 80 pounds when I finally started to give a damn.
So My conclusion should become: Americans are fat because they all behave like Mike Mullikin who took 44 years to give a damn. My conclusion that Americans make stupid generalizations will never change.
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Nearly twice as many U.S. adults are obese compared to European, a key factor
leading Americans to suffer more often from cancer, diabetes and other chronic
ailments, a study released on Tuesday found.The United States spends significantly more per capita than any European country on
health care, about $2 trillion annually, or 16 percent of the gross domestic product.
While the big discrepancy has been linked to higher U.S. prices for medical treatment,
the report said a sicker population may also be a factor.So assuming a nationalized health care system displaced the convoluted system we have now, how would that address our relatively unhealthy population? What would be the incentive, short of government mandate, to not be so darned fat? Perhaps if medical bills were actually paid for by individuals, such that if they put down that twinky they might have lower costs...They might actually do so?
If liberals are not traitors, their only fallback argument at this point is that they're really stupid. -Ann Coulter
-
Nearly twice as many U.S. adults are obese compared to European, a key factor
leading Americans to suffer more often from cancer, diabetes and other chronic
ailments, a study released on Tuesday found.The United States spends significantly more per capita than any European country on
health care, about $2 trillion annually, or 16 percent of the gross domestic product.
While the big discrepancy has been linked to higher U.S. prices for medical treatment,
the report said a sicker population may also be a factor.So assuming a nationalized health care system displaced the convoluted system we have now, how would that address our relatively unhealthy population? What would be the incentive, short of government mandate, to not be so darned fat? Perhaps if medical bills were actually paid for by individuals, such that if they put down that twinky they might have lower costs...They might actually do so?
If liberals are not traitors, their only fallback argument at this point is that they're really stupid. -Ann Coulter
Beeing fat has very little to do with how your healthcare system works. In some countries people have to pay for everything themselves, and the average population is still not obese. In some countries the medical bill is finaced by taxes, and the average population is still not obese. In some countries you pretty much dont even have medical care at all, and the average population is still not obese. Its a cultural problem in the US. Why walk when you can use the car? Why cook food when you can eat at taco bell? Why do anything when you can watch sports on tv. "BUT WE R TEH FREE!" ofc, you got me...
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fat_boy wrote:
and a 7 year old Chateau Neuf du Pape
How unoriginal. I just got my hands on a case of Chateau Angelus 1998 Premier Grand Cru Classé B. I was going to invite you to Bourgogne to try a bottle, but like you just said - that ain't going to happen...
73Zeppelin wrote:
Chateau Angelus 1998 Premier Grand Cru Classé B
:drool: I guess there are many wine fairs during September and October in your region?
I prefer the company of peasants because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason incorrectly. Fold with us! ¤ flickr
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Patrick Sears wrote:
Holy mama that must be a good bottle of wine. Now I'm jealous.
I got it via some "insider trading", so to speak. It's not something I normally would do. :-O
73Zeppelin wrote:
I got it via some "insider trading", so to speak. It's not something I normally would do.
I see you adapt yourself well to the french way of life :laugh:
The most wasted of all days is that on which one has not laughed Fold with us! ¤ flickr
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73Zeppelin wrote:
I got it via some "insider trading", so to speak. It's not something I normally would do.
I see you adapt yourself well to the french way of life :laugh:
The most wasted of all days is that on which one has not laughed Fold with us! ¤ flickr
K(arl) wrote:
I see you adapt yourself well to the french way of life
Indeed! I'm starting to like France. It's not like Switzerland! And your food...oh man... I'm already putting on weight. :-D
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73Zeppelin wrote:
Chateau Angelus 1998 Premier Grand Cru Classé B
:drool: I guess there are many wine fairs during September and October in your region?
I prefer the company of peasants because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason incorrectly. Fold with us! ¤ flickr
K(arl) wrote:
:drool: I guess there are many wine fairs during September and October in your region?
Yes, there are alot. I've already taken a drive to Citeaux Abbey (for the cheese) and after that I visited some wine Chateau's on the rue des Grands Crus. Fantastic. One problem is that the really good wines (I can't afford them anyways) are already taken. Some of the winerys already have their 2010 vintages already sold out. :wtf: But you can get some very good Bourgogne wine for about 10 Euros (and even less if you know which ones to buy). I think there is also a food festival beginning sometime soon - maybe the 2nd week in October.
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Nearly twice as many U.S. adults are obese compared to European, a key factor
leading Americans to suffer more often from cancer, diabetes and other chronic
ailments, a study released on Tuesday found.The United States spends significantly more per capita than any European country on
health care, about $2 trillion annually, or 16 percent of the gross domestic product.
While the big discrepancy has been linked to higher U.S. prices for medical treatment,
the report said a sicker population may also be a factor.So assuming a nationalized health care system displaced the convoluted system we have now, how would that address our relatively unhealthy population? What would be the incentive, short of government mandate, to not be so darned fat? Perhaps if medical bills were actually paid for by individuals, such that if they put down that twinky they might have lower costs...They might actually do so?
If liberals are not traitors, their only fallback argument at this point is that they're really stupid. -Ann Coulter
Simple. You'd have to stand in line for hours to get an appointment, strengthening your leg muscles. Buerocrats would send you up and down long hospital floors and stairs. You'd need to bend down and kiss ass to get any treatment approved, giving your back some exercise. Cheap medicine would leave you without appetite, putting you on a state-ordered diet. It's really simple, once you think about it. On a more serious note: One would assume that with mostly private health care, people would be encouraged to take things into their own hands more. Apparently, not so much.
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