Are You Broke Because You are Overweight or Obese?
Reduce and Eliminate Medical Bills by Losing Weight
While I’d love to write some useful articles on helping men and women lose weight, I keep coming across articles and information about the rotten status of the United States healthcare system. I saw this interesting article on LiveScience today, which basically states that in 2007, 41% of working-age Americans had trouble paying medical bills, up from 34% in 2005.
Now I don’t want to get into an argument of universal healthcare versus privatized healthcare, which country’s healthcare system is best, or what is really wrong with our current healthcare system today, although you can read about my gripes with the pharmaceutical industry here.
I will say that our current healthcare system is screwed, and there are a bunch of fundamental problems with it that make it far too expensive for most people. You can’t step foot in a hospital or doctor’s office without having to pay a bill. Unless you have fantastic coverage at your job, you’re more then likely going to pay a few hundred or few thousand dollars out of pocket with each hospital visit.
Too Many Problems Stem from Being Overweight or Obese
You are probably well aware that 2 out of 3 people in the United States are overweight or obese. No need to toss that number around. But do you realize how many problems actually stem from obesity? Let’s count them down: Hypertension, Osteoarthritis, Dyslipidemia (high cholesterol), Type 2 diabetes, coronary hearth disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, sleep apnea and some cancers.
I’d also like to mention depression or anxiety. While it’s not listened on the CDC website’s list, poor self-image is a problem that affects many young adults in the US. With poor-self image you’re likely to feel more depressed then someone very confident about themselves, so you see a doctor and are now on a $50 a month prescription plan to make you feel better.
These are some serious illnesses that are not cheap to fix. Some of them will turn into lifelong problems that can lead to financial problems for the rest of your life. Do you want to be stuck with frequent hospital visits throughout the year when you don’t have to be going in the first place? Do you want to put that burden on your family members when you won’t be able to pay these bills yourself?
Our Healthcare System is designed to treat Consequences, Not Teach Prevention
Over and over again I hear stories of people who lose weight and completely change their lives around. When you’re fit, you suffer from far less illness then when you’re overweight. Being fit gives you confidence, especially if you’ve had a lifelong problem with self-image due to being overweight. There goes your depression. Being at a healthy weight can reduce all of the major problems associated with obesity that I’ve listed above. While I don’t have the numbers, I can guarantee you that fit people spend much less time in hospitals and doctor’s offices then obese people.
The healthcare system in America needs overweight and obese people to make its incredible profits. Without the problems that stem from obesity, our hard-earned money would stay in our pockets and out of the hands of pharmaceutical companies and hospitals. Don’t worry, they will still be making incredible amounts of money, but it will be for illnesses and problems that cannot be prevented. Out of our own pocket, and as taxpayers for Medicare and Medicaid, we’d be well over $100 billion wealthier as a country.
August 20th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
Great Post! My husband was 200 pounds overweight - he was pretty healthy till he hit 40 - then he started having problems. Conditions you usually dont’ hear about, such as circulation and vision problems. You can read Mike’s story in the Success Stories category on my site …
The doctors wanted Mike to have surgery - but Mike was determined to lose weight on his own - Our health insurance would have been happy to pay the $20,000. for surgery but wouldn’t pay the $50./visits to a nutritionist because Mike wasn’t diabetic - go figure??
The surgery can be quite scary and has a lot of potential probems associated with it. So many people report 100 pound weight loss in a year - Mike lost 100 pounds in a year just by following a sensible plan - no exercise.
I agree that if we were taught prevention and nutrition, it would save lots of money plus give us a better quality of life.
August 21st, 2008 at 5:07 pm
I’m with this post, I have only lost 32lbs and I am feeling sooooooo much better, I can’t wait to slash my remaining 50lbs!
Take care,
Andrew
August 22nd, 2008 at 9:00 am
When I weighed 220 I was spending a ton of money on food and clothes that fit. After I lost 25 lbs I was able to save a bunch of money, my sleep apnea went away, and my old clothes fit again. Right on.
August 27th, 2008 at 5:44 am
After reading the comments on the post I would like to lost my weight also. I was not at all faty earlier as I was also health consious. But because of work pressure and family matter I wont able to withdraw the time for my body.
And now situation is I lost my breath when I reach to my apartment. I tried several times to start the work but never get sucess and that put me back again.
Now I need your advice so that I can start the work out at least for 15 minutes at the earlier stage and than may be more than that.
September 18th, 2008 at 5:55 am
“Our Healthcare System is designed to treat Consequences, Not Teach Prevention” There is not a single word in the sentence which I can deny. I think this is the bitter reality which is a big lie being spoken by all politician. I don’t know that what will happen next or when i will be ill but am afraid to be. Perhaps we need other supporting plans and remedies.
October 1st, 2008 at 4:51 am
US healthcare needs a mopup anyway. It’s rather scandalous the way it works now, so I totally agree with the article. I’d recommend simply getting junkfood cantines out of offices and schools. It isn’t normal to eat junk all day.
Good article.
October 22nd, 2008 at 11:53 am
agree. something needs to be done urgently. and obesity needs to be prevented rather than treated
November 10th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
“Our Healthcare System is designed to treat Consequences, Not Teach Prevention”
Very sad yet very true , in this aspect their need for profit far outweighs their humanitarian tendencies. Prevent Obesity and they dry up a very lucrative cash flow , now offer treatment for obesity and they have a perpetual flood of cash. tsk tsk
December 9th, 2008 at 11:39 am
We can save a lot of money on food if we are not overweight and don’t overeat. But the most important manner in which we can save money is on medical expenses by avoiding various illnesses as a result of eating too much, eating the wrong kinds of foods and obesity.
Also the junk food culture is very much bad for gaining weight as well as increasing our food expenditures.
December 15th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Health care is screwed in the US because there is no regulation, but I also don’t believe in health care for all. I think that my biggest problem is that I pay over $800 a month for health care and they still find ways not to cover things. Also, when I started I was only paying about $500 a month, but they would jack the rate every 6 months. I’m not overweight but if I was I don’t think I could afford health insurance because I have private insurance, and the cost is so much higher. With 2 out of 3 Americans being overweight I understand the cost going up because of all the complications that come with being overweight, but I also think there should be a huge discount if you are fit and healthy because you are a lower risk to the insurance company.
December 17th, 2008 at 7:23 am
According to the article, simply telling people to eat healthier and exercise more often isn’t enough. Broader changes are required, specifically:
Creating pedestrian friendly communities in order for people to be able to walk or bike rather than drive somewhere
Forcing the food industry to offer healthier, calorie conscious options at a lower cost–it can be really expensive to eat healthily!
December 29th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
wow 2 in 3 are obese? I thought aussies were fat. Not sure about the US, but MacDonalds recently became open 24 hours 7 days each week and there’s are Macdonalds in every suburb pretty much. We might take over in a few years
January 2nd, 2009 at 7:03 pm
I don’t know if I can agree with the comment above. I mean, it’s really in the hands of the people to lose their own weight. There’s no need to create pedestrian communities. If people really want to lose weight, they can do it by simply working out inside their homes.
I’ve been running the p90x program for some time now. All it really requires are dumbbells and a pullup bar.
Anyway, great written article. I’ll soon be back to this site for more.
Thanks and god bless,
Taylor Thompson