HOWARD DEAN EATS TWO BABIES!
"I'm the doctor--I say what's nutritious!"
Posted on 01/22/2004 12:48:56 AM PST by calcowgirl
Obesity in the United States, which affects nearly one-third of adults -- costs $75 billion a year in medical expenses, half of it funded by taxpayers through Medicare and Medicaid, a new study says.
Treatment of obesity, ranging from clinic visits to gastric bypass surgeries, amounts to $350 a year for each adult, according to the study released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and RTI International, a nonprofit research firm in North Carolina.
The percentage of American adults considered obese has doubled in the last 25 years, fueling a rise in chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, the CDC said.
"Obesity has become a crucial health problem for our nation, and these findings show that the medical costs alone reflect the significance of the challenge," said Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson. "We must take responsibility both as individuals and working together to reduce the health toll associated with obesity."
Both Thompson and Dr. Julie Gerberding, CDC director, have declared obesity a major health concern.
The new study -- which doesn't include children, whose obesity rates are soaring -- found that 5.7 percent of the nation's health care expenses are for treatment of obesity. That is roughly the same percentage spent on treatment for the effects of smoking.
The burden is greater for taxpayer-funded programs: 6.8 percent of Medicare costs and 10.6 percent of Medicaid costs are spent on treatment of obesity.
Medicare is a federal program for seniors and the disabled, and Medicaid is a federal and state program for the poor.
The study, the first to break down obesity costs by state, focuses on all medical expenses incurred by obese people that exceed the medical expenses of the non-obese. This included all costs for all medical treatment, whether paid by private insurance or public programs. Indirect costs, such as lost productivity and time away from work, were not considered.
California spends the most on obesity overall -- $7.7 billion a year -- and through Medicare -- $1.7 billion. New York tops the list in obesity-related Medicaid expenses at $3.5 billion. Alaska and the District of Columbia spend the largest share of medical expenses on obesity -- 6.7 percent.
Wyoming spends the least treating obesity each year, at $87 million. Arizona spends the smallest share of its health care dollars on obesity, at 4 percent.
A state's obesity costs are influenced by its obesity rate, its population, the amount of managed care and the extent to which public programs pay for medical expenses. High costs can result from generous health care programs as well as a high incidence of obesity.
"This allows each state to see how much they spend on obesity," said Eric Finkelstein, an RTI researcher. "It should encourage states and employers to figure out how to reduce these costs."
States can support nutrition and fitness programs to reduce obesity costs in future years, Finkelstein said. Some employers offer perks to workers who enroll in exercise programs or otherwise keep health care costs down. Georgia's obesity rate is 23.5 percent, compared with the national average of 22.1 percent, according to a CDC survey that relies on self-reporting by participants. A more robust CDC study, not broken down by state, puts the national rate at 31 percent.
In the new study, Georgia comes in slightly higher than the national average on obesity costs. The state spends $2.1 billion treating obesity, or 6 percent of its overall health care costs. Obesity accounts for $405,000, or 7.1 percent, of Medicare spending and $385,000, or 10.1 percent, of Medicaid spending in Georgia.
Gov. Sonny Perdue's budget for next year calls for greater cuts in public health spending than the 5 percent reduction across the board in spending by state agency. But that doesn't mean obesity isn't an important issue, Perdue spokesman Dan McLagan said.
"The governor's focus is on children, education and job creation," he said. "Sadly, everything can't be funded."
Yes and they can't hide it.
Obesity cop, "Sir step over here." Cop takes height and weight check.
Issues a ticket for being 40 lbs overweight and a summons to appear at the official town scale no later than 20 weeks from the date of issue.(2lbs/wk.)
Fines will be $10/pound. (Of course some people like Pavarotti the opera singer can afford that as a business expense, since his voice might change with a big weight loss.
300 pound football players would also have it as a business expense. etc - Tom
And, YES, I have a very negative attitude.
Oh boy. :( You have one gut wrenching story there. I'm not sure if I could handle that. What state are you IN??? MAINE?
Sounds like Maine. heh!
My heart goes out to you and I wish you all the very best!
HOWARD DEAN EATS TWO BABIES!
"I'm the doctor--I say what's nutritious!"
You be good honey, I need to feed my demon....where are my smokes????LOL!!
In 50 years or so if your DNA isn't perfect at birth you will be disposed of immediately, if you don't maintain a government approved lifestyle afterwards you will be sent to a re-training camp and if after 3 tries you don't improve you will be deemed an enemy of the state and eliminated in a humane manner for the health and safety of the peoples government.
Can anyone deny this isn't coming sooner rather than later?
hehe ! Mornin' !So now Howie's giving little babies a bad time.
Look at the face on the one on the right, as if to say ...
My goodness. Are you NUTS ?! ...Kids these days. Gettin' smarter all the time !
Thanks. Thought I'd try that and see how it came out ...
Food murderer!
He's no doctor. I am so sorry about your doctor induced injuries. Ephederine is banned because a small handful of people are injured through reckless misuse yet Rx drugs, properly prescribed and used, cause dozens, hundreds or thousands of deaths and injuries and the response from the FDA and the medical community is a big "oh well, that's life." I consider that behavior criminal in nature.
You are a LOT closer to the truth than you might think here. The government and the medical establishment has long played fast and loose with "smoking-related death" statistics. Pretty much everyone that dies of certain types of cancers is automatically categorized as a "smoking-related death" even if they never touched a single cigarette in their lives. If a patient has ever admitted to smoking for so much as a single month when they were 18, and then dies of any of dozens of different diseases at age 95, they'll be classified as a "smoking-related death".
Given that, you can be sure that anyone who's more than a single pound "overweight" according to an arbitrary chart drawn up by the government, and then dies of pretty much any disease instead of being hit by a bus, will automatically be counted as an "obesity-related death".
Higher "death rates" = more cash for those running the agencies assigned to fight the nonexistent problem, and more cash for the trial lawyer Democrats. Follow the money.
Hmmm, it's Best Food's slogan too. Ah, my jar of Hellman's has the answer. Hellman's is a subsidiary of Unilever Bestfood's Inc. No wonder I like the consistency of both equally. Doh!
The best use of mayo may well be turkey, lettuce and tomato on lightly toasted whole grain bread drowned in mayo on both sides.
A very long time ago - 10 to 15 years - Rush Limbaugh would regularly report on whatever Nanny State action was being taken that day (usually something smoking-related, but of course it could be any number of things: mandatory bicycle helmets for kids, someone successfully suing a ladder manufacturer for falling off one of their products that didn't have a label on it reading "Don't be a damned idiot," etc), and he would always end his rants with a statement along the lines of, "Mark my words. If we don't stop this sort of thing now, eventually they'll start going after FOOD."
He said this over and over and over again. Everyone laughed at him, and of course as a society we did nothing about the Nanny State. And his prediction has come 100% true, just like the slowly-boiling frog. It's happened so slowly, so "progressively" (pun intended) slowly, that I'm not sure even Rush remembers how he used to make that prediction almost every day way back when. By the time the Food Nazis finally came along in the last year or two, nobody was the least bit surprised; we all fully expected it.
Call your state's Board of Medicine, request a complaint form, and fill one out, explaining the simple truth: He refused to even attempt to treat you for your ailments, and instead attempted to practice politics on you. He'll be forced to take time out of his oh-so-busy-and-important schedule to respond to the state (and they could in theory launch a full investigation), and no matter how the matter is resolved, the fact that someone put in a complaint against him will be on his record FOREVER. (You can call your state BofM anytime and simply ask, "Has Dr. So-and-So ever had any complaints filed against him?" This is often a good thing to do anyway before seeing a new doctor for the first time.)
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