Why does the government mandate health insurance but not a healthy lifestyle?

[KeylessEntry]

Just an extreme example: Banning sodas, trans fat.

I dont think that would work. Banning soda and transfat wont prevent people from eating too much shitty food and becoming fat, people will just eat different junk foods. Also, healthy people can drink soda or eat foods with transfats in moderation and be completely fine.

[DeuceWallaces]

Pretty simple, just tax the hell out of shit that is bad for you. Like what they're already doing.

[iamgine]

I dont think that would work. Banning soda and transfat wont prevent people from eating too much shitty food and becoming fat, people will just eat different junk foods. Also, healthy people can drink soda or eat foods with transfats in moderation and be completely fine.

That's the thing, regulate all those food you mentioned.

[OldSkoolball#52]

Anyway, it should also be noted that even the healthiest people still need access to healthcare. While an overweight walrus with diabeetus might be more likely to rack up high health bills than a marathon runner, there are countless exceptions in the real world. Lance Armstrong was a healthy dude, yet he managed to rack up some pretty monster hospital bills. How many 5 year old kids get leukemia and other gnarly cancers without even having a chance to live an unhealthy lifestyle?

Of course. These are the people for whom insurance is designed. They could be any one of us at any time.

If we cut out all the bullshit, and every American chipped into a fund for that stuff? It would cost much less per person.


But instead, insurance must help cover the cost of lap bands. Knee and hip replacements for the obese. Angioplasties and other treatment for heart disease. Cholesterol pills. You know how many people incur at least one of those expenses due to poor diet and exercise? A LOT.


467,321 were victims of gun violence in 2011, and typically victims of gun violence wind up in the hospital. But we don't speak on this, we don't acknowledge it, we sweep it under the rug. Why? Because most of them are black. And everyone is afraid to "go there".

More people than ever require treatment for prescription drug abuse. How much are we doing to address this? Very little, considering the kinds of donations Big Pharm make to political campaigns. People take drugs for everything now. Stomach acid, depression, back pain, allergies, erectile dysfunction (may not be covered by insurance, lulz). But most of these things ARE covered by insurance. You want to make everyone pay extra because SOME people over-medicate themselves for every little thing?



America is simply VERY unhealthy for a developed nation. The idea that the government can REQUIRE you to put YOUR money into such a convoluted system is preposterous. The founding fathers seriously are rolling over in their graves. The government is not supposed to be able to take from you involuntarily. Just because they're technically transferring your money to a third party does not make it acceptable.

Universal insurance, healthcare mandates etc. work ok in small, homogenous countries where people are much more culturally uniform. Like Japan, Ireland, Switzerland etc. That does NOT apply to the United States. You cannot chain people together by the wrist in a melting pot. The results are oppressive and disastrous.

[OldSkoolball#52]

I support both. Health insurance and healthy lifestyle.

It's just like car insurance. People have to buy car insurance, at the same time there are strict road rules and law that promotes safer driving.

Yep, and this is what I'm getting at.

In this scenario, it should be all or nothing.

You cannot tell a person he must buy insurance, but then tell him his fellow man will dictate how much he's gonna end up paying based on how responsible a bunch of others decide to be.

If you're not gonna MAKE people be responsible for themselves, don't MAKE others be responsible for them. Period.

[KeylessEntry]

Pretty simple, just tax the hell out of shit that is bad for you. Like what they're already doing.

There is more to a healthy lifestyle than just avoiding food that is bad for you. Also, you can make very unhealthy food with healthy ingredients, have dinner with a mexican family to see what I am talking about.

Anyway in regard to taxing the hell out of junk food, any law would have to get past the lobbyists representing junk food conglomerates - pepsico, coke, nestle, kraft, general mills, mcdonalds.... good luck with that

[iamgine]

There is more to a healthy lifestyle than just avoiding food that is bad for you. Also, you can make very unhealthy food with healthy ingredients, have dinner with a mexican family to see what I am talking about.

Anyway in regard to taxing the hell out of junk food, any law would have to get past the lobbyists representing junk food conglomerates - pepsico, coke, nestle, kraft, general mills, mcdonalds.... good luck with that

The idea is to reduce the bad food so there's more balance. If sodas are $15 a bottle and water is free, perhaps more people would choose water.

[OldSkoolball#52]

The idea is to reduce the bad food so there's more balance. If sodas are $15 a bottle and water is free, perhaps more people would choose water.

Yes, this is indeed one option.

But IF America collectively decides to go that route... it had better be ready to wipe the line "o'er the land of the free" from the Star Spangled Banner, "with liberty and justice for all" from the Pledge, and it may want to do a few rewrites of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution as well.


Because how can we keep saying we're about one thing, and then doing the complete opposite?