Obese Americans unable to get health insurance?

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ljprevo said:
I did not say YOU were a bigot, I said it was a bigotted statement.

It just depends how people take it.
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Uh huh, well anyway, what percentage of Americans are currently afflicted by thyroid disorders?
 
LDNCatholic said:
Uh huh, well anyway, what percentage of Americans are currently afflicted by thyroid disorders?
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I have no clue, all I know is I am.

Why don’t they make it that anyone that has any condition at all either gets a higher premium or no insurance at all.

The point I was making is that it may be a medical reason someone is overweight and not ness. the food intake.
 
ljprevo said:
I have no clue, all I know is I am.

Why don’t they make it that anyone that has any condition at all either gets a higher premium or no insurance at all.

The point I was making is that it may be a medical reason someone is overweight and not ness. the food intake.
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Fair enough, but not everybody can hide behind a condition. I don’t know about medical insurance because thankfully we don’t need it here in the UK.
 
LDNCatholic said:
it might motivate some of the larger people to get up, move about a bit or eat a salad instead of a burger.
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yeah, what if they LIKE being fat? seriously, it’s their choice to be fat if they want to be.
 
schukle_baby said:
yeah, what if they LIKE being fat? seriously, it’s their choice to be fat if they want to be.
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Then they can’t very well turn around and complain to a health insurance company who refuses to insure them on the basis that they are putting their health in danger by CHOOSING to be obese.

I didn’t say it wasn’t their choice (although as ljprevo illustrated, it isn’t always a choice) however those that choose to chub up should be held responsible for the risk they put themselves in.

Again I ask this as an outsider to the American insurance industry but do many insurance companies insure people who repeatedly attempt suicide?
 
LDNCatholic said:
True, true…but to the best of my knowledge my taxes dont rise if I have a heart attack or get diagnosed with high blood pressure.
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But the tax burden does rise.
And that will eventually raise the taxes.

In a real sense, your “premium” is dictated by the overall health of the population…whereas ours is dictated by our own health.
 
vz71 said:
But the tax burden does rise.
And that will eventually raise the taxes.

In a real sense, your “premium” is dictated by the overall health of the population…whereas ours is dictated by our own health.
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Its slightly more complicated than that. The poor here do not pay the same premium as the rich, which I believe is the case over in America.
 
LDNCatholic said:
Its slightly more complicated than that. The poor here do not pay the same premium as the rich, which I believe is the case over in America.
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Please clarify…
Do you mean that hospitals (in America) charge more for procedures performed on the poor then they do for the rich?
 
vz71 said:
Please clarify…
Do you mean that hospitals (in America) charge more for procedures performed on the poor then they do for the rich?
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No no, its leading on from the whole ‘‘taxes are health insurance’’ thing. I’m saying that here the poor do not pay the same amount of tax (or even the same proportion of tax) as the rich, whereas in America a poor man with a heart condition would (I assume) pay the same insurance premium as a rich man with the same heart condition. I know there is medicare and medicaid out there but from what I was taught that does not apply to all of the poor in the U.S, only certain cases. Please correct me if I’m wrong, I’m no expert on U.S policies.
 
LDNCatholic said:
No no, its leading on from the whole ‘‘taxes are health insurance’’ thing. I’m saying that here the poor do not pay the same amount of tax (or even the same proportion of tax) as the rich, whereas in America a poor man with a heart condition would (I assume) pay the same insurance premium as a rich man with the same heart condition. I know there is medicare and medicaid out there but from what I was taught that does not apply to all of the poor in the U.S, only certain cases. Please correct me if I’m wrong, I’m no expert on U.S policies.
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You would be correct in asserting that the burden is greater for the poor. But this has more to do with resources then with insurance or healthcare institutions charging different prices.
 
vz71 said:
Please clarify…
Do you mean that hospitals (in America) charge more for procedures performed on the poor then they do for the rich?
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It may very well in some cases be just the opposite. A hospital may not turn down a patient if it is an emergency, no matter whether they have insurance or not. It is the paying patients who carry most of the burden for those who cannot pay. Medicare pays a set amount for a procedure. Medicare patients are those over the age of 65 and everyone in that age group, as far as I know, are covered. Medicaid is for those who are poor and cannot pay.
 
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