5 ms·

How much would Medicaid save if 1% were no longer obese?

mschuster91 3y ago
Probably even more, but reducing smoking rates is very cheap for a government to do than trying to combat obesity.
throw__away7391 3y ago
A lot. The US gov actually already spends more on healthcare per capita than most of the European countries with socialized medicine.
- judge2020 3y ago
  Are there studies that point to obesity being the main cause of this?
  - qwytw 3y ago
    The main cause is of course significantly higher costs in the US. In some part possibly due to more administrative inefficiency, but mainly because of much higher cost of labour. I would guess the gap between doctor salaries is even bigger than in tech (probably besides Germany and of course Switzerland).
- lostlogin 3y ago
  The difference isn’t due to obesity though, though that might be part of it.
  - throw__away7391 3y ago
    Not entirely, no. The US pays a lot more for healthcare, for identical treatment. About 80% of total revenue for medical technology comes from the US market. A lot of other countries either negotiate lower rates utilizing their state monopoly on the market or are just lower income and cannot afford the prices paid by the US. In both cases, the marginal cost is low enough that companies are willing to compromise or cost discriminate, but the end result is essentially the US footing the bill. If this were ever to change, if the US ever started negotiations like European countries do, I worry it would negatively impact medical progress. Still, the impact of obesity are quite significant. An obese person will have 6 times the healthcare costs of someone who is merely overweight. I am not sure the difference between an overweight and healthy weight person, but I imagine it is at least something. Currently 69% of Americans are overweight and 36% are obese. This is insane to me because even "healthy weight" guidelines are pretty generous IMO. My doctor has told me I'm "healthy weight" at times when I definitely needed to lose a few pounds. (After losing the weight I felt better, had more energy, mental clarity, etc.)
hospitalJail 3y ago
I can't tell you how many patients we have that are obese, have knee or back pain, we fix it, and they come back ~1 year with knee or back pain.
- Clubber 3y ago
  Maybe you should recommend realistic treatment for their obesity. Mental and physical health. List what foods/ingredients aren't filled with sugar. Do you do that or just bitch about them still being fat every year?
  - hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
    Do you honestly believe, in today's day and age, that the primary driver of obesity is lack of knowledge? I've known plenty of overweight people, and literally zero percent of them thought "Gosh, if only I'd known doughnuts were bad for me I wouldn't be so fat!"
    - Clubber 3y ago
      The "diet" industry is a $76 billion industry. You'd think with that many sales, there wouldn't be an obesity epidemic. Seems like most of the products are a big sham. It'd be nice for a doctor to assist someone rather than just bitching that they're still fat year after year. Health advise is kinda what we're paying them for ya know. >I've known plenty of overweight people, and literally zero percent of them thought "Gosh, if only I'd known doughnuts were bad for me I wouldn't be so fat!" If you think the strategy to get someone to cut 200 pounds safely and permanently is as simple as to stop eating doughnuts, it's obvious you are lacking quite a bit of knowledge on the topic yourself.
  - nerdjon 3y ago
    I am a bit perplexed by your comment. We can acknowledge that many Doctors have mismanaged Obesity in the past (and still do). Shame is not a valid treatment option. But if social media is any indication (and thats a big if, I don't personally know any doctors to confirm or deny if this is really the case) than there is also a disturbing trend of people not wanting to talk about this with their doctor. Of it being noted in their records to not talk about their weight. Which I don't understand, do I love it when I go to the doctor and and I am told they would like me to loose some weight? No. At least at the doctor I am at that actually leads into a discussion about diet, activity, etc. But to ignore it is doing me a disservice. Like I can't imagine any other thing about my health telling my doctor, I don't want to talk about that and let's ignore it. At best if there are multiple things we need to talk about, we put a pin in it and say we will make a future appointment for it. Also... Health, diet, etc are all complex things and it isn't as simple as "filled with sugar".
rhplus 3y ago
Fun fact: Former smokers are more likely to be obese than both current smokers and never smokers. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4401671/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4401671/

Probably even more, but reducing smoking rates is very cheap for a government to do than trying to combat obesity.

A lot. The US gov actually already spends more on healthcare per capita than most of the European countries with socialized medicine.

judge2020 3y ago
Are there studies that point to obesity being the main cause of this?
- qwytw 3y ago
  The main cause is of course significantly higher costs in the US. In some part possibly due to more administrative inefficiency, but mainly because of much higher cost of labour. I would guess the gap between doctor salaries is even bigger than in tech (probably besides Germany and of course Switzerland).
lostlogin 3y ago
The difference isn’t due to obesity though, though that might be part of it.
- throw__away7391 3y ago
  Not entirely, no. The US pays a lot more for healthcare, for identical treatment. About 80% of total revenue for medical technology comes from the US market. A lot of other countries either negotiate lower rates utilizing their state monopoly on the market or are just lower income and cannot afford the prices paid by the US. In both cases, the marginal cost is low enough that companies are willing to compromise or cost discriminate, but the end result is essentially the US footing the bill. If this were ever to change, if the US ever started negotiations like European countries do, I worry it would negatively impact medical progress. Still, the impact of obesity are quite significant. An obese person will have 6 times the healthcare costs of someone who is merely overweight. I am not sure the difference between an overweight and healthy weight person, but I imagine it is at least something. Currently 69% of Americans are overweight and 36% are obese. This is insane to me because even "healthy weight" guidelines are pretty generous IMO. My doctor has told me I'm "healthy weight" at times when I definitely needed to lose a few pounds. (After losing the weight I felt better, had more energy, mental clarity, etc.)

hospitalJail 3y ago

I can't tell you how many patients we have that are obese, have knee or back pain, we fix it, and they come back ~1 year with knee or back pain.

Clubber 3y ago
Maybe you should recommend realistic treatment for their obesity. Mental and physical health. List what foods/ingredients aren't filled with sugar. Do you do that or just bitch about them still being fat every year?
- hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
  Do you honestly believe, in today's day and age, that the primary driver of obesity is lack of knowledge? I've known plenty of overweight people, and literally zero percent of them thought "Gosh, if only I'd known doughnuts were bad for me I wouldn't be so fat!"
  - Clubber 3y ago
    The "diet" industry is a $76 billion industry. You'd think with that many sales, there wouldn't be an obesity epidemic. Seems like most of the products are a big sham. It'd be nice for a doctor to assist someone rather than just bitching that they're still fat year after year. Health advise is kinda what we're paying them for ya know. >I've known plenty of overweight people, and literally zero percent of them thought "Gosh, if only I'd known doughnuts were bad for me I wouldn't be so fat!" If you think the strategy to get someone to cut 200 pounds safely and permanently is as simple as to stop eating doughnuts, it's obvious you are lacking quite a bit of knowledge on the topic yourself.
- nerdjon 3y ago
  I am a bit perplexed by your comment. We can acknowledge that many Doctors have mismanaged Obesity in the past (and still do). Shame is not a valid treatment option. But if social media is any indication (and thats a big if, I don't personally know any doctors to confirm or deny if this is really the case) than there is also a disturbing trend of people not wanting to talk about this with their doctor. Of it being noted in their records to not talk about their weight. Which I don't understand, do I love it when I go to the doctor and and I am told they would like me to loose some weight? No. At least at the doctor I am at that actually leads into a discussion about diet, activity, etc. But to ignore it is doing me a disservice. Like I can't imagine any other thing about my health telling my doctor, I don't want to talk about that and let's ignore it. At best if there are multiple things we need to talk about, we put a pin in it and say we will make a future appointment for it. Also... Health, diet, etc are all complex things and it isn't as simple as "filled with sugar".

rhplus 3y ago

Fun fact: Former smokers are more likely to be obese than both current smokers and never smokers. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4401671/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4401671/