Re: Study: Obesity threatens health care system

From: Glitter Girl (glittergirl1967_at_cox.net)
Date: 12/09/04 

Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004 08:43:29 -0600

I have yet to run across a senior that draws $2,000 per month in public
funds.....

Glitter Girl
"Ignoramus21494" <ignoramus21494@NOSPAM.21494.invalid> wrote in message
news:cp8qhb$pth$0@pita.alt.net...
> This is completely bogus accounting. It takes into account medical
> costs of complications of obesity, but does not account for the fact
> that obese people die earlier and, therefore, do not draw as much from
> the public during unproductive old age.
>
> The higher medicare expense of $6,000 per year is a small sum,
> considering that an old person could draw 2,000 per month in public
> funds (social security, medicare, section 8 etc) and that obese people
> die 6 years earlier, on average. That means 2,000 x 12 x 6 == $144,000
> public savings. An obese person would need to live for 24 years after
> retirement, a near impossibility, in order to expend his extra
> medicare expenses that would be equal to the early death savings.
>
> I would not be surprised to find out that obesity is in fact a net
> financial benefit to the society, with the obese people, first,
> participating in social security system on highly unfavorable terms,
> and second, also suffering from obesity physically. I would not
> interpret this situation as though obese people are somehow imposing a
> cost to others or are getting a good deal.
>
> i
>
> On 9 Dec 2004 04:27:41 -0000, Karina Kehl
> <karinaamelltotgwy@consultant.com> wrote:
>> Study: Obesity threatens health care system
>>
>> CHICAGO, Illinois (Reuters) -- Younger Americans who are overweight today
>> are threatening to hit the government's Medicare system with big health
>> care bills when they reach old age, according to a report published
>> Tuesday.
>>
>> "With current trends of increasing overweight and obesity afflicting all
>> age groups, urgent preventive measures are required not only to lessen
>> the
>> burden of disease and disability associated with excess weight but also
>> to
>> contain future health care costs incurred by the aging population," the
>> study said.
>>
>> The report from Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in
>> Chicago, found that that annual average Medicare charges for severely
>> obese
>> men were $6,192 more than for non-overweight men -- 84 percent higher.
>>
>> For severely obese women, annual average charges were $5,618 more, or 88
>> percent higher than for women not overweight.
>>
>> For men the total average annual Medicare charges for those not
>> overweight
>> were $7,205, for the overweight $8,390, for the obese $10,128 and for the
>> severely obese $13,674.
>>
>> The total average annual charges for women in the same four categories
>> were, respectively, $6,224, $7,653, $9,612, and $12,342.
>>
>> About 12 percent of U.S. adults aged 65 years and older are currently
>> considered to be obese, a figure likely to increase to 20 percent by
>> 2050,
>> the study said. Obesity can lead to high blood pressure, diabetes,
>> coronary
>> and other health problems.
>>
>> The report was published in this week's Journal of the American Medical
>> Association.
>>
>> The authors said about 130 million U.S. adults are currently overweight
>> or
>> obese. The definition for being overweight is a body mass index of 25 to
>> 29.9. Body mass index is a calculation based on height and weight.
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> 223/172.3/180

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