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HIDDEN 'REFORM' COSTS: THE HEALTH COPS
The NY Post ^ | August 10, 2009 | Adam Brodsky

Posted on 08/10/2009 2:58:05 AM PDT by Scanian

EAT your vegetables. Avoid sweets and fats. Never smoke. And do your calis thenics.

Or be ready to pay a hefty tax.

Ridiculous? Sure. But under ObamaCare, Americans may well find themselves moving quickly toward a world of just those kind of mandates. Here's why.

As taxpayers start paying an ever-larger share of the nation's health bill (as they clearly will under the Dems' health reforms), pressure will mount for Uncle Sam to see that folks live healthy lives. There'll be two key rationales for broader sin taxes and other ways to control lifestyles:

* They promote "wellness."

* They make those living "unhealthy lives" bear the medical costs of their "reckless" behavior.

Certainly, the nation's "nannies" -- those who seek to run lives -- will push these arguments. And they'll have a point; after all, why should, say, a non-smoker pay for the lung-cancer treatment of someone who insisted on smoking all his life?

Such reasoning is already used to partly justify mind-boggling cigarette taxes in places like New York. Smokers drive up government health-care bills (e.g., higher Medicaid and Medicare costs), so it's only fair that they pay more in taxes.

Lifestyle cops also trot out health-cost arguments to push trans-fats and fast-food bans, zoning changes to promote fruit and vegetable sales and more public recreation space.

In April, then-city health czar Tom Frieden called for steep new taxes on soda -- which he claims would help curb obesity, and so lower costs tied to treating obesity-related diseases.

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: agenda; bho44; bhoczars; bhohealthcare; communism; democrats; govtmandates; liberalfascism; nannyism; nannystate; obama; obamacare; socialism; socializedmedicine

1 posted on 08/10/2009 2:58:07 AM PDT by Scanian
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To: Scanian

I want to post my little thing again so bad.

I must refrain!

I’ve already done it twice.

We are the Underground, you see?


2 posted on 08/10/2009 3:01:33 AM PDT by GeronL (http://unitedcitizen.blogspot -Guilty of deviationism- http://tyrannysentinel.blogspot.com)
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To: Scanian

‘Smith!’ screamed the shrewish voice from the telescreen. ‘6079 Smith W.! Yes, you! Bend lower, please! You can do better than that. You’re not trying. Lower, please! That’s better, comrade. Now stand at ease, the whole squad, and watch me.’
(1984)


3 posted on 08/10/2009 3:32:14 AM PDT by 6SJ7 (atlasShruggedInd: ON)
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To: Scanian

this concept is already inplace - remember the rationale used for enacting seat belt laws?


4 posted on 08/10/2009 4:04:28 AM PDT by camle (keep an open mind and someone will fill it full of something for you)
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To: Scanian

I’m starting to think a big part of the problem is health insurance itself. After people got used to insurance picking up the tab for their health care, they lost all incentives to keep the costs down. They weren’t even paying for their insurance, for the most part; their employers were.

Your back is sore? Go to the doc and get an MRI, just to be on the “safe” side. People didn’t know it cost $1200 and didn’t care. The doc owned the MRI, so he had his incentive to use it. The insurance was picking up the bill, so what the heck? I had a friend who was a secretary at a personal injury law firm, and part of her job was to collect medical bills for the clients’ settlement packages. She said that 95% of the people had no idea what their medical bills were when she called. It was just not a concern.

Now that the whole system is breaking down because of the spiraling costs, people want the government to step in and let the government do what it does best: give us something for nothing. Like the prescription drug bill, that required not one extra cent in taxes. Like medicare and social security, which are ridiculously underfunded and will someday bankrupt this nation unless we figure out how to undo those promises made in the heat of electoral politics. Of course, actually paying for them is out of the question.


5 posted on 08/10/2009 4:18:01 AM PDT by freethinker_for_freedom
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To: Scanian

How can they do all of this with no money?


6 posted on 08/10/2009 4:33:27 AM PDT by freekitty (Give me back my conservative vote; then find me a real conservative to vote for)
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To: Scanian

Americans are already stockpiling ammo.

Next they’ll be filling their basements with 25lb cans of lard and 50lb sacks of sugar.


7 posted on 08/10/2009 4:36:01 AM PDT by Brugmansian
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To: freethinker_for_freedom

Health care expenses family and friends have racked up from sports and exercise injuries are beyond comprehension. Shouldn’t that be considered part of the lifestyle choices also?


8 posted on 08/10/2009 5:39:52 AM PDT by indyhome
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To: Brugmansian

>Americans are already stockpiling ammo.

FMJ, JHP, SJHP, SP... all good things to have.

>Next they’ll be filling their basements with 25lb cans of lard and 50lb sacks of sugar.

Ah, I’d want to have foodstuff that can logistically support operations.


9 posted on 08/10/2009 6:09:59 AM PDT by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
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To: Scanian
Be prepared for FAT CRIMES to become a regular thing.
10 posted on 08/10/2009 6:24:49 AM PDT by Caipirabob (Communists... Socialists... Democrats...Traitors... Who can tell the difference?)
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To: Scanian

I already do all that stuff, and the biggest reason I do it, is I want to be in the best condition I can be in, when the next Revolutionary War begins.


11 posted on 08/10/2009 7:44:33 AM PDT by Sig Sauer P220 (Forget going Galt. Its time to go Braveheart.)
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To: Scanian; All

DIMs aren’t the ONLY congresscritters on RECESS!!
I hope that we can all encourage our local (R) leadership to hold Town Halls, like Vitter did, to get the TRUTH out to those uninformed and listening only to MSM. This is NOT the time for our leadership to stand down.

DIMS should NOT be the only leadership out there trying to get their (lies) message out!!! LET’S GET THE TRUTH OUT!!!

Sen. David Vitter Welcomes Angry Mob to Health Care Forum
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/277262


12 posted on 08/10/2009 8:14:17 AM PDT by Kimberly GG (l)
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To: long hard slogger; FormerACLUmember; Harrius Magnus; hocndoc; parousia; Hydroshock; skippermd; ...


Socialized Medicine aka Universal Health Care PING LIST

FReepmail me if you want to be added to or removed from this ping list.

**This is a high volume ping list! (sign of the times)**


13 posted on 08/10/2009 8:30:21 AM PDT by socialismisinsidious ( The socialist income tax system turns US citizens into beggars or quitters!)
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To: freethinker_for_freedom
I’m starting to think a big part of the problem is health insurance itself. After people got used to insurance picking up the tab for their health care, they lost all incentives to keep the costs down.

That is exactly what the problem is. Insurance is a means of spreading risk out so that a catastrophic event doesn't financially impact the individual all at once. Cost is spread out over time and over the multiple individuals purchasing insurance from that company. The company is free to manage risk and pricing so as to stay competitive and profitable.

Instead we have "insurance" that covers even the most routine and mundane aspects of health care. It's completely removed the free market forces from the equation.

And the reason we have this system, is because Congress made employer-provided health insurance tax deductible.

14 posted on 08/10/2009 8:31:18 AM PDT by Scutter
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To: freethinker_for_freedom

“I’m starting to think a big part of the problem is health insurance itself. After people got used to insurance picking up the tab for their health care, they lost all incentives to keep the costs down. They weren’t even paying for their insurance, for the most part; their employers were.”

This is absolutely true, and it is why HSAs were such a great idea when proposed by President Bush, and why the Dems want desperately to kill HSAs.

They’re not perfect—they tend to cherry-pick the young and healthy, who have time to accumulate savings in their HSA—but they point in the right direction. Stop insulating patients from the true costs of healthcare. This does not mean to throw them out on their own, but to make some common-sense reforms: stop employer-subsidized healthcare, and give everyone a tax credit to buy insurance; open insurance markets across state lines; develop ways for the self-employed and small businesses to join larger risk pools; and implement tort reform, which is a huge cause of “preventive medicine,” where doctors run CYA tests.

In this sense, healthcare is like university tuition, in which many if not most students get grants, subsidies, low-cost loans, etc. The resulting is skyrocketing costs, because students and their parents are insulated from the true cost.


15 posted on 08/10/2009 9:08:32 AM PDT by Mikie ("Tyrants have always some slight shade of virtue; they support the laws before destroying them.")
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To: Scanian

Nanny state


16 posted on 08/10/2009 9:18:59 AM PDT by Munz (All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.)
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To: Scanian

you know my grandfather lived to a ripe old age of 82, he smoked since he was 12, died with a pipe in his hand.
Ate whatever he wanted, lived like a wild man and enjoyed his freedom.

I myself think these people are full of crap.
The CBO said yesterday that 80% of the time preventative measures are cost prohibitive.

Does that matter when they are talking about this crap? hell no, they are willing to make us all pay more money to have control over us.


17 posted on 08/10/2009 9:21:13 AM PDT by Munz (All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.)
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To: Scanian

You can shut this debate down in a New York minute if you add risky, unnatural, homosexual sex practices the the list of things you would tax. I’m sure that full-blown Aids treatment costs one hell of a lot more than a few extra Cokes and Mountain Dews.

The libs would have their panties in an absolute, royal twist if this was included in the mix of unhealthy lifestyle choices. Especially if we were actually asking the practioners to pay for it.


18 posted on 08/10/2009 9:35:30 AM PDT by CTOCS (Some people drink from the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.)
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To: CTOCS

Capital idea!


19 posted on 08/10/2009 1:20:31 PM PDT by Scanian
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