Comments on: The Weighty Problem No Candidate Will Touch

By: Carol

Carol — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:34:28 +0000

People are born with lung disease, with heart disease, with diabetes.

Not behaviorally related at all.

Perhaps some of you know-it-alls would like to walk in my shoes for a while, with pulmonary fibrosis, which costs my insurance company over $300k annually, for which there is no cure, and damned little treatment.

I hope you all catch something you can’t help, and then see how your tune changes.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 08:17:00 +0000

I work for a life insurance company and weight is always a factor in determining rates and coverage. Funny is how the more overweight, the more “unfair” they feel it is. Over 300 pounds the problem is the finding a company to insure them, but convincing them the rate is justified.

By: go justin

go justin — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 09:52:52 +0000

yes, justin… i agree completely. government health care for everyone? who’s actually stupid enough to try and sell the idea of socialized health care (i’m rolling my eyes).

By: Loey

Loey — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:59:54 +0000

So charge people who are the problem. Base airfare on weight. Not just weight of bags, but passenger weight. If weight is a factor, Why should I, at 130 pounds, pay as much as the guy who weighs 300 pounds? Why do restaurants brag about huge portions, and charge huge prices? Let customers chose their portion size and pay accordingly. Let insurance companies charge for health insurance based on weight if that’s such a factor.

By: Dennis Butler

Dennis Butler — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:25:06 +0000

Solution. Make people responsible for their own health and health care. Most of the conditions you refer to are the result of life style CHOICES. I am over weight and if that was reflected in MY cost for health care and NOT my employers or my neighbors cost, that would be fair.

By: stan taves

stan taves — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:48:37 +0000

Good blog. However, at the end of the day energy is something we can be proactive about as a society. Ones health, on the other hand, is more about personal decisions than is is about anything that we as a people should be expected to do. In other words, when push comes to shove, society isn’t going to pay for bad health. But here’s the dirty little secret: Our health as a society is clearly linked to the abuse of “cheap energy” for more than a century now. In other words “cheap energy” has made us fat, crazy, and sick. Solution: take the “cheap” out of energy and the culture will start to regain it’s strength.

By: Mary Cooperman

Mary Cooperman — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:08:11 +0000

I believe that many of the “big seven” are caused by stress–yes, even overeating. The main stress that all are suffering is from OVER TAXATION! Just fast forward to the amount spent on the “B S” when Obama
takes office unless he intends to tax by the pound.

By: Justin

Justin — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 21:30:06 +0000

People should have the freedom to be as fat as they wanna be, and I should have the freedom to not pay for their medical bills through tyranical taxation. Let them croak for all I care. Ultimately, we are responsible for our own actions. What happend to America’s rugged individualist past?