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The American lifestyle/diet and healthcare costs are two separate issues that both desperately need to be solved. What a lot of people don't know outside the U

by vgoh1 8y ago

The American lifestyle/diet and healthcare costs are two separate issues that both desperately need to be solved. What a lot of people don't know outside the U.S., is that the obesity crisis exists in upper class and upper-middle class, but is a completely different animal among the poor and working poor. I grew up in a working-poor family, and kept that same social group until about 10 years ago. The culture around food is completely destroyed. Social gatherings revolve around unhealthy food. There is generally not the understanding that the choices for what you eat is the major reason for obesity. The poor are lied to so much, they don't know what to believe, and the prevailing opinion tends to be that it is mostly due to genetics (how could that be, we have the same genes as 1-2 generations ago) or character (laziness, but I was obese in the past and worked a full time job and two part time jobs). In the past, the poor would get info from cable news, or not at all. Today, they get their news from Dr. Oz feeds on Facebook telling them to lose weight with various forms of snake oil. While there is quite the gym culture in the U.S. in upper middle class, lower class does not have money for the gym, but mainly their metabolism is so shot from the foods they eat that they don't have the energy to go to the gym. The government and the medical field in general could do a lot to move the needle on the terrible food culture, but they don't. They in fact made the terrible food pyramid, that tells people to eat grains above all else, and says nothing about the processing of the foods that they eat. And the foods they eat are processed to the nth degree. When I eat with some of my old friends or family that are still a part of my old culture, I am always amazed by how terrible the cheap food is here. It really doesn't even taste like food. Potato chips, rubbery chicken nuggets, soda, Totinos pizza, TV dinners, Hamburger Helper, I could go on...

chiefalchemist 8y ago
> "The American lifestyle/diet and healthcare costs are two separate issues that both desperately need to be solved." I see it (much) differently. Healthcare, is just like everything else. That is, Supply & Demand applies. Furthermore, the providers can also use "price what the market will bear." Consumers have no choice. Well, they do, but they choose food + lifestyle that makes them ill. Remove __unnecessary__ (read: preventable) demand and prices will have only one way to go. That is, down. The cost of procedures will fall. Insurance premiums will fall, because they're paying out less. My point is, we can't keep living such unhealthy lifestyles and keep blaming the healthcare system. That's deceptive and naive. < sidebar > Supply & Demand was one of the dirty secrets of the ACA. More people were jammed into the system, but supply was not increased. Sure, in theory these new consumers were said to be younger and healthier. None the less, even if they used the system 25% as much, that was still an increase in demand (and none in supply). In theory it was "easy money" for the insurance companies, but it did not address S&D. That is, the ACA, to some extend, robbed Peter to pay Paul. Prices continue to climb, as does the obesity rate, etc. < /sidebar >
chiefalchemist 8y ago
> "The government and the medical field in general could do a lot to move the needle on the terrible food culture, but they don't." I wanted to reply to this directly. Yes and no. Nothing is more personal than what you put in your mouth. It's not just to blame others for those decision(s) / action(s). Could more be done? Yup. But gov + med are not the only ones dropping the ball. How many times does a doc have to say "You've got to lose weight" before they give up, and are "forced" to write a script for meds X, Y and Z? I mean, when you step up to the toilet, you look down and can't see over your belly and see where your pee is coming from, isn't that a red flag? Maybe the trip to the all you can eat buffet isn't a good idea?

by vgoh1 8y ago

chiefalchemist 8y ago

> "The American lifestyle/diet and healthcare costs are two separate issues that both desperately need to be solved." I see it (much) differently. Healthcare, is just like everything else. That is, Supply & Demand applies. Furthermore, the providers can also use "price what the market will bear." Consumers have no choice. Well, they do, but they choose food + lifestyle that makes them ill. Remove __unnecessary__ (read: preventable) demand and prices will have only one way to go. That is, down. The cost of procedures will fall. Insurance premiums will fall, because they're paying out less. My point is, we can't keep living such unhealthy lifestyles and keep blaming the healthcare system. That's deceptive and naive. < sidebar > Supply & Demand was one of the dirty secrets of the ACA. More people were jammed into the system, but supply was not increased. Sure, in theory these new consumers were said to be younger and healthier. None the less, even if they used the system 25% as much, that was still an increase in demand (and none in supply). In theory it was "easy money" for the insurance companies, but it did not address S&D. That is, the ACA, to some extend, robbed Peter to pay Paul. Prices continue to climb, as does the obesity rate, etc. < /sidebar >

chiefalchemist 8y ago

> "The government and the medical field in general could do a lot to move the needle on the terrible food culture, but they don't." I wanted to reply to this directly. Yes and no. Nothing is more personal than what you put in your mouth. It's not just to blame others for those decision(s) / action(s). Could more be done? Yup. But gov + med are not the only ones dropping the ball. How many times does a doc have to say "You've got to lose weight" before they give up, and are "forced" to write a script for meds X, Y and Z? I mean, when you step up to the toilet, you look down and can't see over your belly and see where your pee is coming from, isn't that a red flag? Maybe the trip to the all you can eat buffet isn't a good idea?