Posted on 08/21/2008 5:26:15 PM PDT by mngran2
Next year, the state will add a $25 insurance fee for being overweight
Alabama, pushed to third in national obesity rankings by deep-fried Southern favorites, is cracking down on state workers who are too fat.
The state has given its 37,527 employees a year to start getting fit — or they’ll pay $25 a month for insurance that otherwise is free.
Alabama will be the first state to charge overweight state workers who don’t work on slimming down, while a handful of other states reward employees who adopt healthy behaviors.
Alabama already charges workers who smoke — and has seen some success in getting them to quit — but now has turned its attention to a problem that plagues many in the Deep South: obesity.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Is this based on weight alone?
If a guy has a 32” waist and a 46” chest, is he considered obese?
Post your picture, please. I need to be certain you aren’t a self-hating obese person.
How about alcoholics?
Drug users?
People who live in violent neighborhoods?
Nope - can't go after any liberal groups - no matter what their health risks.
Don’t worry, the government will look up some statistical chart and tell whether they think you’re too fat.
The nanny state in all its glory.
Oh. And post your mothers picture too. Lots of normally sized people get a complex when Mother is sagging here and there.
And the kids, please.
What’s the surcharge for those that ride those inherently dangerous motorcycles? Skydivers? How about them homersexials that explore all manner of bizarre foofoo? Those HIV meds are expensive. Sheesh.
Liberalism is killing this country, far faster than fat people.
Sad to say, sexually active homosexual men are prone to a whole host of diseases, not just HIV. If we’re going to start grouping people by risk to health, homosexual men should be at or near the top of the list.
Now, will homosexual men ever be singled out as such? Of course not, wouldn’t be politically correct. Why is it politically correct to pick out heavy people for this?
While excess weight is a health concern, why is it being picked on before some others, such as homosexuality or drug use, or drinking?
Homosexuals,drug abusers,smokers,fatties and others should pay more....just as a skydiver,smokers and people who have certain medical conditions pay more for life insurance.
First they came for the smokers. Then they came for the lardasses. Then they came for the...
BMI measurements (based solely on weight/height) are poor indicators of health. BMI doesn't take into consideration fat/muscle, etc.
A recent study suggested that about half of overweight people and nearly a third of obese people have normal blood pressure and cholesterol levels, while about a quarter of people considered to be normal weight suffer from the ills associated with obesity.
The assumption is that thinner people must be healthy and must engage in healthier habits. After all, they're thin! It is impossible to tell from someone's BMI alone whether people are healthy or not, what they eat, how much they exercise, etc.
I'm OK until they start coming after dumbies
You and me both.
I disagree....
if you smoke or are overwieght you pay more for life insurance...
if you are a lousy driver you pay more for auto insurance...
if you live near an ocean you pay more for home insurance...
why shouldn’t obese people, smokers and those who have habits which can lead to health problems but ones WHICH THEY CAN CONTROL not pay more for health insurance???
No, just a simply way to save the tax payer some money.
True, but the BMI is a simple number to get. And according to the article someone who is 5.6 and weighs 220 has a BMI of 30. So a BMI of 35 is way up there.
I’m glad fat assed, do nothing Alabama government employees will have to pay to price of this edict.
ROFL.
Simple or not, BMI just isn’t very accurate. And what’s the point of using such a measurement?
Since muscle is more dense than fat, many physically fit people are mistakenly classified as “overweight”, while they are actually less likely to die young than a “normal” weight individual whose excess weight is mostly fat.
My point was that members of the liberal PC protected class are NEVER considered when it comes to discussing who pays more for insurance.
Or vegetarians?
Whenever you talk to a vegetarian about something other than food, it's about what their doctor said last week.
Why shouldn't they pay more? (Hint: it's because they're members of liberal groups and no one ever will ask them to pay their share)
Good to know the state is cracking down and getting tough. /sarcasm
And folks who go to nightclubs - drinkers have many more health problems. What about them?
elective surgery is usually not covered under health insurance...if it were 90% of women would likely get boob jobs...
not all folks who go to nightclubs and drink put themselves in health risk....if that’s the case everyone in a big city should pay more based on the hazards of crossing the stret...
Not all people who smoke get lung cancer - it's something like 4% or less. My point is I'm tired of only the groups liberals hate being harassed.
Lots of liberal groups are living at elevated health risks. Let's talk about it.
I'm with you - BUT, why shouldn't gays, nightclub denizens and people who live in violent neighborhoods pay more? Lets throw some liberal groups into the pot.
This will be nothing compared to Obama health care.
Alabama to Charge Obese State Employees More
August 22, 2008
Alabama state employees suffering from obesity and three other health problems will eventually have to pay extra for their health insurance if they don’t try to control their problems.
The State Employees’ Insurance Board has approved a plan that will charge state workers an extra $25 per month, starting January 2010, if they don’t have a free health screening. If the screening turns up no problems, they don’t have to pay the $25 in the future.
If the screening turns up serious problems with blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose or obesity, then employees will have one year to see a doctor, enroll in a wellness program or take other steps to improve their health. If they do, they won’t have to pay the $25 monthly. But if they don’t, they will have to pay the $25 per month starting in January 2011.
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Find this article at:
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2008/08/22/93000.htm
I agree.
We should price (charge for) risk - not “pool” it. That is how we preserve liberty.
“The price of liberty ...is personal responsibility.”
If you want to smoke, fine, but it will cost you more in terms of life insurance. Etc.
Quit whining; this is not “The Nanny state,” it is a free market solution.
You know what? I agree with you. There should be a free market. That is not what this law is about. I'll splain what I mean.
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We the People Sheeple of the United States Nanny State, in Order to form a more perfect Union Socialist Utopia, establish Justice Socially engineer a country of non smoking, physically fit, teetotalers, insure domestic Tranquility Smoking bans in bars, limits on unhealthy food and social drinking, provide for the common defense Universal Healthcare, promote the general Welfare health of the population whether they like it or not, in order to save above mentioned Universal Healthcare entitlement program from bankruptcy, and secure the Blessings of Liberty Dependency to ourselves progressive liberals and our Posterity Hitler Youth who we brainwash through public school education, do ordain decree and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. Nanny State of Liberals
I agree. Let's make a deal.
Abolish Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP. All insurance will be private (paid for with a standard Gubmint voucher). Companies can charge what they want in a free market based on anything. But in return ....
All coercive Gubmint measures....smoking bans, cigarette taxes, trans fat bans, menu labeling laws, fast food zoning laws are immediately repealed?
Deal?
Well, it’s about time! They SHOULD pay and pay and pay! </s> Who will be the next group? Maybe my sister should pay more because she has MS. When will we realize that we’re all in this together?
“why shouldn’t obese people, smokers and those who have habits which can lead to health problems but ones WHICH THEY CAN CONTROL not pay more for health insurance???”
Like when I was a paratrooper in the Army?
Shoul I have paid more?
Another thought/example: Maybe my wonderful father should pay. After all, he had a quadruple bypass at age 74 due to clogged arteries. It was the very first time he was ever in a hospital, no other medical condition, no medical procedure or surgery ever, and had never been on any type of prescription in his life. Who’s going to pay the $20,000 for that surgery?
Only when some company decides to charge homosexuals more for insurance since they have a higher risk of AIDS. Then the libs will be on board to put a stop to this.
In reality, this kind of thing has been going on for years. It’s an unwritten and unspoken secret. Why do you think companies have been against hiring experienced older people who know what they are doing and instead hire new college graduates and younger people? 30 years of experience vs a kid who was doing keg stands 6 months ago? Health insurance.
Why do you think married women in their prime child bearing years earn less than their male counterparts who they could run circles around? Health insurance.
Ssssshhhhhh! Don’t say anything.
“Mum” is the word. :-) Hope all is well and you never need a quadruple bypass. ;-)
OK!
I thank God the doctors were able to keep my wonderful father around. :-)
Brave men and women in the armed forces already get veteran health benefits don’t they?
It’s understood that their career places them in harms way to protect the rest of us. There is a legitimate public need in providing them with free quality health care paid for by the taxpayers they protect.
Am I missing something?
Great! It’s been nice doing business with you.
Now if only Congress ran this smoothly.
Great! It’s been nice doing business with you.
Now if only Congress ran this smoothly.
If there was something wrong with my heart, I would have passed out from 150 sit ups, 130 push ups, shuttle sprints and then the 400 round house kicks, 400 axe kicks and 400 snap kicks at my typical Tae Kwon Do workout 3 times a week.
I knew there was a reason why I thought I should be extra nice to you. :-)
Lots of things - but I am not going to spell it out tonight.
Briefly, it comes down to “risk pools”. People should be allowed to join the risk pool they favor, and not forced to join ones that they do not.
For example, Social Security is a plan I would never have joined, given a chioce.
Ditto Medicaide.
All of the “Government” attempts to control behavior, are attempts to contol risk.
Helmet laws, non-smoking laws, you name it.
So, until we dump the idea of forced shared risk, the government will increasingly try to micromanage risk-taking behavior.
So long, free and open society. Must have been nice, when it existed.
You know, I joke with my friend at the school. We spend 45 minutes doing cardio, push ups, sit ups, squat thrusts and stretching, and then only 20 minutes of actual martial arts.
If a mugger attacked me I wouldn’t necessarily be able to kick his ass and knock the knife out of his hand...but I would challenge him to a sit up contest for my wallet. He’d be toast :-)
I was actually curious to hear your take on veteran medical benefits.
Everyone agrees and understands that the shared risk pool theory (Gubmint programs like Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, indigent insurance charity care) leads to coercion to change behaviors in the absence of a free market to charge more to higher risk folks.
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