Insurance discounts for the healthy
Are big insurance discounts for healthy behavior unfair?
Does this question need to be asked? Are insurance discounts for safe driving fair? Are insurance companies allowed to not insure your home if you own a pit bull? Seriously, are people annoyed with this? Yes, probably… the fat ones who smoke, right?
Employers and health insurers could give larger discounts to employees who lose weight or lower their cholesterol under one health care overhaul proposal that’s moving through Congress .
You do have to ask though, what if I’m already at a healthy weight or have low cholesterol? Do I still get the discount, or does there have to be a change of lifestyle in order to take advantage of the discount?
The groups fighting the provision say that while many employees might want to exercise and eat right, some might find that work schedules and family commitments prevent them from making the lifestyle changes needed to improve their health. Lower-income workers, in particular, might not be able to afford gym memberships, even with employers’ subsidies.
Really? Gym memberships? I mean, it’s not like there’s a pesky thing as gravity and you could actually just move your body in your home in ways devised to help tone muscle… or run outside, or bicycle, or walk… I mean, you MUST have a gym membership in order to lose weight. That’s how people in Europe stay thin, right? Or maybe they actually just walk places instead of using their cars to get everywhere? I mean, when was the last time you saw a fat guy on the subway in New York?
Ugh, this is just so frustrating. If you want to cut health care costs, you have to make people healthier. You have to make sure that programs are available to help people make good choices. Pre-natal screenings, forums on eating healthy, smoking cessation programs. Not that I think the government should be paying for ANY of this, but a lot of these things are offered through my insurance program, and I would think that they would be offered through MOST insurance programs.
And while we are on the subject, I work a 40 hour week, I have a two-year old child and am pregnant with a second child and I find the time, EVERY NIGHT to make dinner and serve it. Sometimes it does include hamburgers and french fries, but there is almost always a combination of lean protein, fresh vegetable and carbohydrate. It’s not difficult or time-consuming to make a tasty, well-balanced meal. It just takes advanced planning and about 30 minutes a night.
Oh, and here’s a side note, America: McDonald’s is NOT GOOD FOR YOU (neither is Wendy’s or Burger King or Taco Bell, etc. etc. etc.).
curlycoloradan said,
August 11, 2009 at 3:20 pm
I tried searching for the article I read, but there’s a town that lost a crap load of weight together – without a gym – by using the local town hall. They had “exercise time” every night where town residents would meet up to climb stairs, walk/jog, use food cans as weights, and do general body resistance exercises. The local grocery chipped in to by starting to offer healthier choices.
Another point, however, is that if there are going to be punishments/rewards, per se, with regard to insurance premiums and lifestyle, the better food has to be more available. A single mom (or poor college student) can throw together a calorie and fat-laden casserole for a hell of a lot cheaper price than organic/healthy fare.
The government wants us to get healthy? Then they need to stop denying economics DOES play a role for some people (well, at least stop looking in the wrong areas…gym membership. Good grief.), stop subsidizing crap food, and institute a system where food with the “organic” tag is actually cheaper than the laptop I’m typing on.
That would impress me to no end.
asjenseesit said,
August 11, 2009 at 4:21 pm
I dunno that I agree with all that, Curly… I mean organic is all well and good, but I don’t think it’s the be all and end all that people say it is. You can eat perfectly healthily on non-organic foods. The thing is that the food has to be fresh(ish). People don’t learn how to eat, regardless of how much the Food Pyramid is taught in schools. The majority of what we eat should be whole grains, followed closely by veggies and fruits, then lean meats (or proteins). Everything else should be taken in moderation. We shouldn’t teach kids that the only way broccoli is tasty is if it’s coated in cheese sauce and that the only way to have a quick meal is from McDonald’s. I think I spend around $150 in groceries for three people to eat for a week and we always have a veggie and grain and meat with our meals… and we eat things like steak and pork loins, high end foods. I could probably spend $80-$90 a week on groceries and eat just as healthfully — it just takes advance planning and some sacrifice. Prepared foods are not the answer, home cooking and portion size are!