other people's diet

[dave1215]

it's a free country, right?
then why should you care what your neighbor is eating?

because it's not free - you are paying the bill for his/her medical expenses.
tax revenue share going into medicare and medicaid as well as pooled health insurance premiums.

More About the Budget and Health - NYTimes.com

In 2008, “$2.1 trillion were spent in this country on medical care, or 16.5% of the gross national product, and 95 cents of every dollar were spent to treat disease after it had already occurred. Heart disease, diabetes, prostate/breast cancer, and obesity account for 75% of these health care costs, and yet these are largely preventable and even reversible by changing diet and lifestyle."

isn't it time to actively encourage our friends, family and colleagues
to improve their diet and increase their exercise? if not us, then who?

[e-RICHIE]

a lead story in BRAIN is about obesity in america and how it could end up being a good thing for the bicycle industry.
eh i dunno. i couldn't look at folks with misfortune, be it lifestyle, habits, gene pool, or similar, and think of them as
a possible profit center atmo. it all starts from within, bro'. think good thoughts.

[caleb]

20% of GDP on healthcare in 2010? Can't continue.

[maunahaole]

a lead story in BRAIN is about obesity in america and how it could end up being a good thing for the bicycle industry.
eh i dunno. i couldn't look at folks with misfortune, be it lifestyle, habits, gene pool, or similar, and think of them as
a possible profit center atmo. it all starts from within, bro'. think good thoughts.

Morning news here ran a story about the higher gasoline prices leading to more bus riders and more bike sales at one LBS in what they report to be a slow time of year. As a fat guy I would say that obesity just leads to more obesity. Economics of filling the tank will change behavior more than diet. Meanwhile the house of ptomaine is dropping this on your local sewers: Bites - Taco Bell tests out taco shells made from Doritos

[dave1215]

...Economics of filling the tank will change behavior more than diet...[/url]

that's brilliant, now it's clear to me.

first, because we want to spend more than we have
fed prints money which drives down value of our currency
which happens to be the denomination of the oil trade
which directly and immediately drives up gas pump prices

second, regulators shut down domestic offshore drilling after bp spill
which increases our reliance on foreign oil supplies
which directly and immediately drives up gas pump prices

third, after shutting down iraq oilfields, war department bombs libya
which further restricts worldwide crude supply
which directly and immediately drives up gas pump prices

fourth, diplomats suddenly dump support for mubarak after 30 years of love
which frightens our saudi arabian frenemy who runs to find alliances with russia
which frightens oil traders about future supply from world's largest producer
which directly and immediately drives up gas pump prices

our government is implementing a well coordinated strategy
to encourage more americans to ride bicycles
to solve our country's obesity problem
to reduce national health care costs

if only there were such a good reason
for all of this herky-jerky
one can only dream

[R.Liverman]

I was just discussing this LA Times article with some friends: Healthcare costs: A less taxing proposal - latimes.com

It's an interesting read, but I'd argue there's no real solution via taxation. As with most things education is key. People need to be taught what food is, how to prepare it, and what is best for the body. In high school I remember home-economics being a joke. In reality it arguably has much more of an influence on one's life than many other classes which are given greater importance and prestige.

[zetroc]

People will always do what is easiest until it is no longer easiest.

[caleb]

I was just discussing this LA Times article with some friends: Healthcare costs: A less taxing proposal - latimes.com

It's an interesting read, but I'd argue there's no real solution via taxation. As with most things education is key. People need to be taught what food is, how to prepare it, and what is best for the body. In high school I remember home-economics being a joke. In reality it arguably has much more of an influence on one's life than many other classes which are given greater importance and prestige.

Agreed entirely, but education won't solve it entirely - weakness of the will and all that.

zetroc
Re: other people's diet

People will always do what is easiest until it is no longer easiest.

True. If we're going to have a 'market" system of healthcare then we need to make people internalize the marginal costs of their actions (i.e. individuate health insurance premiums and make them highly dependent upon patterns of consumption. You consume, more comes out of your paycheck. You're healthy and avoid the doctor, your paycheck is bigger next month.)

The only other real alternative is handing the whole mess over to government for rationing.

Consumption without market limitations sure isn't working for anyone - except the docs and hospital administrators.

***

Unhealthiness today has lots of similarities to pollution before the EPA: do what's best for you and externalize the consequences. In the case of pollution, forty years ago we had to go the government route to get things under control. With health the question is still open over whether we'll figure out how to use the market to control externalities or whether the government will have to step in.

[dave1215]

...we need to make people internalize the marginal costs of their actions (i.e. individuate health insurance premiums and make them highly dependent upon patterns of consumption. You consume, more comes out of your paycheck. You're healthy and avoid the doctor, your paycheck is bigger next month.)...

...Consumption without market limitations sure isn't working for anyone - except the docs and hospital administrators...

...figure out how to use the market to control externalities...

there it is

pooled payment for healthcare
should spread the risk of illness
not transfer the cost of irresponsibility

every dollar that is spent to treat congestive heart failure for a sedentary, obese-smoker
is a dollar that is unavailable to treat a child with meningitis (one example of millions)

because there are not unlimited resources
vulnerable people will continue and increasingly suffer
from the consequences of other people's unhealthy behavior

as caleb mentioned, the solution is in internalizing the cost of decision making