Health Insurance

[Wifezilla]

The only crap in this debate is what is promoted as being "healthy food". Breakfast cereal, even those without added sugars, are complete crap. Of course I lived on whole grain cereal for years (with skim milk) because it was low in fat and I thought it was healthy. It trashed my metabolism and made me fat. That is a fact.

Cereals and grains are still promoted as a health food. If you ask people on the street, they will say cereal without added sugars is good for you. It isn't. Neither is skim milk.

When THAT becomes common knowledge I will accept people are just making bad choices. For now, the information they are receiving from the media, their doctors and the nutrition industry is wrong. So, yes, they are victims.

Posted by Freemotion on another thread..

When I was a nutraceutical consultant, working with doctors, I would have them survey their patients. One of the series of questions had to do with how the patients make decisions on what health products they use. Almost all checked off boxes that indicated media, like magazines and tv. I did this to show the doctors that their patients NEEDED guidance to make good decisions, as they were allowing themselves to be misled. It was a powerful tool to convince these health professionals of the need to provide proper education for their patients, and not just tell them to "clean up their diet and take supplements." This also showed me why products like RoundUp are still so widely used, and why poisons like hydrogenated fats and GMO foods are not being boycotted enough to make a big difference. Throw a few "studies" into widely read magazines, commonly found in doctor's offices, and you have instant complacency.

Sums it up pretty well i think.

 

[me&thegals]

Well, if we can't agree on diet, we can probably all agree that smoking is bad for your health and quite expensive to our healthcare system.

Wifezilla, as I've told you before, not everyone has gotten fat and sick on whole grains. I've lived a healthy, active, energetic life on whole grains. And skim milk Until I started drinking soy instead.

 

[Dunkopf]

I think people SHOULD be covered. I also think people willingly endangering their health can pay more. I'm not talking about accidents or genetics. And probably this is a slippery slope. But if I speed and get tickets and get into accidents, I will either have exorbitant auto insurance rates or I will get dropped entirely.

Auto does not equal health, but I think some of the same rules could apply.

And I wouldn't want to see crap food outlawed or otherwise regulated. I want to be free to make choices. But, it would be nice to stop having crap food actually subsidized (well, the corn and soy that makes them, anyways) by the gov't. It should be easier and cheaper to get the whole foods than the processed foods they eventually become.

I think the whole foods should be cheaper too. I don't think it's really the government subsidies. I know the subsidies get blamed for everything, but I don't think the processors get subsidized. Just the big farmers. The processing is to make the food more palatable and better looking for the vast majority of the public. It is cheaper to put fillers and additives as well as preservatives than to sell the real thing. It's all bottom line profit. Money is God to a lot of people.

The other thing is preserving the food. All your store bought chicken is pumped full of preservatives to make it last long enough to sell. Look how long a loaf of fresh baked bread with natural ingredients last compared to a store bought loaf. My DW makes an absolutely killer caramel roll by hand from scratch. It's delicious the first day. By day two it is getting hard.

We all know how expensive organic foods are. No pesticides equals less attractive fruits and vegetables and more crop loss. Yes there are natural pesticides that are effective in small scale operations but are time consuming and add cost to the end product. Much cheaper to apply a spray on pesticide.

Things will never change. Money is GOD. We are at the mercy of the almighty dollar.

 

[Wifezilla]

Great talk illustrating where our current health recommendations came from and how screwed up they are...

http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/2010/10/28/video-of-the-big-fat-fiasco-speech/

 

[i_am2bz]

Well, if we can't agree on diet, we can probably all agree that smoking is bad for your health and quite expensive to our healthcare system.

Wifezilla, as I've told you before, not everyone has gotten fat and sick on whole grains. I've lived a healthy, active, energetic life on whole grains. And skim milk Until I started drinking soy instead.

I'm sure all of us have known people who can eat anything they want & not gain an ounce, or smoke until they're 90 & then die in a car accident rather than lung cancer. Remember the marathon runner who died of a heart attack? Life is strange. There's just no tellin'.

 

[murphysranch]

Since my Subsidized COBRA runs out on Sunday the 31st, I've been shopping for health insurance for DH and I. At the ages of 55 and 56, we're NOT going to go without it. I've been comparing plans for three months.

I found Assurant Health via USAA, and its only major medical. Its a $5000 per person per year deductible, then they kick in 50% until I pay the next $5000, then they cover 100%. Cost? $700 per month for both of us. Thats $8400 a year just in premiums. Again, its major medical: just incase we get injured in a car, come down with a serious illness, etc.

No RX coverage, no mental health, but they will, per the Obama health care overhaul (ha!), cover wellness exams and procedures, such as colonscopies, mamograms, blood tests, etc. But all insurance companies are now required to cover these at no charge, on Jan 1, 2011.

 

[Wildsky]

Well, if we can't agree on diet, we can probably all agree that smoking is bad for your health and quite expensive to our healthcare system.

http://www.joejackson.com/pdf/5smokingpdf_jj_smoke_lies.pdf

 

[i_am2bz]

Cost? $700 per month for both of us. Thats $8400 a year just in premiums. Again, its major medical: just incase we get injured in a car, come down with a serious illness, etc.

No RX coverage, no mental health, but they will, per the Obama health care overhaul (ha!), cover wellness exams and procedures, such as colonscopies, mamograms, blood tests, etc. But all insurance companies are now required to cover these at no charge, on Jan 1, 2011.

$700/mo really isn't "at no charge", is it? These companies will get their pound of flesh one way or another...:/

 

[ORChick]

Since my Subsidized COBRA runs out on Sunday the 31st, I've been shopping for health insurance for DH and I. At the ages of 55 and 56, we're NOT going to go without it. I've been comparing plans for three months.

I found Assurant Health via USAA, and its only major medical. Its a $5000 per person per year deductible, then they kick in 50% until I pay the next $5000, then they cover 100%. Cost? $700 per month for both of us. Thats $8400 a year just in premiums. Again, its major medical: just incase we get injured in a car, come down with a serious illness, etc.

No RX coverage, no mental health, but they will, per the Obama health care overhaul (ha!), cover wellness exams and procedures, such as colonscopies, mamograms, blood tests, etc. But all insurance companies are now required to cover these at no charge, on Jan 1, 2011.

Murphysranch, before signing up for this I would strongly recommend that you check your local medical community, and see which doctors are signed up with Assurant - or, actually, any company you might choose. We have Assurant insurance, and have found that the options open to us in our small city are very limited, and change constantly - doctors leave the area, or drop (or are dropped) from the insurance list. We did not check beforehand, and now no longer have the choice of changing companies, since my DH's cancer. My DH's endocrinologist is now an hour's drive away because there is none in our town. The podiatrist who did my recent foot surgery is 2 hours away. Depending on where one lives I suppose that this can always be an issue, but you may find that it is less of one if you go with a more well known company. Good luck.

 

[Boogity]

Well, if we can't agree on diet, we can probably all agree that smoking is bad for your health and quite expensive to our healthcare system.

http://www.joejackson.com/pdf/5smokingpdf_jj_smoke_lies.pdf

Where in the world do people find these crack-pot idiots like Joe Jackson? Oh yeah "I read it on the internet so it must be true".