The future of healthcare?

[Brando989]

I found this article interesting...

http://wcco.com/goodquestion/health.care.doctors.2.1045987.html


What can we really expect to come from this healthcare reform? Will it be beneficial to us as future Doctors and healthcare workers?

Should I be worried?

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[GoodmanBrown]

I found this article interesting...

http://wcco.com/goodquestion/health.care.doctors.2.1045987.html


What can we really expect to come from this healthcare reform? Will it be beneficial to us as future Doctors and healthcare workers?

Probably not. I think that doctor's reimbursements will fall in the long-term. I'm not sure, but guessing that specialists will see the biggest drop. My hunch is that doctors' salaries will range from 180K-300K (in today's dollars) eventually. Not necessarily fair, but I think the general population still sees doctors as a bunch of rich folks. And politicians can use docs as straw men to talk about the excesses of the healthcare industry. Luckily insurers and big pharma are the evil du jour for healthcare right now.

Should I be worried?

I guess that depends on your aim. If you're hoping to make huge bank (i.e. millions) then, yes, you should be worried. I think the high reimbursement for procedures will eventually dwindle. So, if you're hoping to be a busy cardiologist and make 750K a year, you probably won't ever have that opportunity (if you're in HS now). However, if you'd be satisfied with 200K a year, which I definitely deem sufficient, then I doubt you have to worry much.

 

[lamp37]

I'm not going into this field for the money, and I'm not too worried. Whatever will be good for the patients is more important to me than what is good for the doctors.

 

[Ponger]

I'm not going into this field for the money, and I'm not too worried. Whatever will be good for the patients is more important to me than what is good for the doctors.

No offense but that line of thinking is a little troublesome. Even if you're not going into medicine for the money (and no one should) you should still be aware of the financial implications of national healthcare or doctor reimbursement reductions.

As a high schooler, it's incredibly easy to say you have no problem earning 125k-200k rather than $500k but you likely haven't accounted for every cost.

Becoming a doctor is a long AND expensive process. Suppose you go to private undergrad and med school. You could be looking at $300-400k in loans. There are many that have loans in that amount. Then imagine you only make $150k per year, and potentially will lose half of that or more when nationalized healthcare comes (50% tax brackets). How do you expect to pay back those loans and start a family, buy a house/car, etc????

Furthermore, the money between doctors and patients is rather zero-sum. That is to say, if a doctor makes less money then he has to see more patients. This lowers the time spent with each individual patient and lowers overall quality of care. That's worse for both patients and doctors. Doctors won't just magically agree to be paid less.

I see the more troublesome aspects of healthcare as private insurance and pharmaceuticals.

 

[tennisball80]

I was surprised to see so many ads about drugs and health insurances when I first got to the U.S.

Rather than health care itself, the diet in the U.S. is really messed up. No one spends time to cook fresh veges and sea food. And no one seems to care about what they are eating. I also found that there are a lot of sodium, fat, sugar and other bad substances in the food. In my country, the price of bad fast food is set higher than the healthy food that you can get. There is no price regulation. However, the companies decided to do that so the people can get healthy.

Unless it's really emergency, I am going home to get my medical treatment because I don't have to deal with insurance company there. I can always see a specialist in my country without seeing my GP. I went to see an gastroenterologist without the GP's.

My Opinion: The American health care is messed up. The government should fix the people's eating habit first.

 

[shawnpl]

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[xnfs93hy]

The future of healthcare=

 

[Brando989]

I was surprised to see so many ads about drugs and health insurances when I first got to the U.S.

Rather than health care itself, the diet in the U.S. is really messed up. No one spends time to cook fresh veges and sea food. And no one seems to care about what they are eating. I also found that there are a lot of sodium, fat, sugar and other bad substances in the food. In my country, the price of bad fast food is set higher than the healthy food that you can get. There is no price regulation. However, the companies decided to do that so the people can get healthy.

Unless it's really emergency, I am going home to get my medical treatment because I don't have to deal with insurance company there. I can always see a specialist in my country without seeing my GP. I went to see an gastroenterologist without the GP's.

My Opinion: The American health care is messed up. The government should fix the people's eating habit first.

I agree with that train of thought. Preventative medicine is always the best medicine.

As part of this new plan, they are talking about investing money to set up programs to educate the population.



In my opinion there is more than enough education to be retained on proper health..

The problem is....alot of Americans are *****s.

They seem to think they can screw up their health, because there will always be a way to fix it, and they will be back to their old invincible selves.

I see it everyday in the people involved in my own life. They have their own ideas and don't want to listen to the doctor.

Because in their minds, the doctor is just a greedy, egoistical, demi-god wanna be..

That annoys me to no end.

I also think doctors should be well supplemented for the crap they put up with.

That's okay though, the politicians will learn the hard way. When there is no doctors left to play their stupid little game, maybe they will up the reimbursement...

We need reform, but we don't need socialized reform.

 

[johnstoops2005]

Specialist salaries will most likely go down. Also, to Brando989, I'm not quite sure the "politicians will learn the hard way. When there is no doctors left to play their stupid little game, maybe they will up the reimbursement..." makes any sense. Have you seen doctor salaries in Germany? $50,000-$60,000 and doctors are still playing "their stupid little game" All of that being said, doctors are generally pretty well respected members of society and they are always going to be pretty well off financially in the US.

England is a pretty good example, I think, of a place where doctors are paid well and medical costs are under control as well (the average General Practitioner in England is paid about $175,000). Specialists can earn more but not as exorbitantly more as in the US. GP salaries are pretty competitive.

Only about 10% of current medical school graduates in the US choose primary care. Primary care salaries need to go slightly up, specialty doctor salaries need to go down. It's going to happen no matter what.

Also, tennisball80, I don't think the companies chose to do that out of the goodness of their hearts and make healthy food cheaper haha, although how wonderful that would be haha! It's just how it works out. I know that in India McDonalds is a pretty high class fast food restaurant place. American fast food is just more expensive when outsourced to other countries.

As for "higher tax rates" and all that, um, the British government spends less on healthcare per person than the US government. On top of that, the private sector spends tons of money on healthcare as well in the US. (Source: WHO). Sure, there will probably be higher tax rates or defecits in the short term but the money saved in the long term will make it a very very good return on investment.

So...should you be worried? Nah, we'll probably still be able to live in big houses and drive around nice cars a few years out of residency.

 

[Brando989]

Specialist salaries will most likely go down. Also, to Brando989, I'm not quite sure the "politicians will learn the hard way. When there is no doctors left to play their stupid little game, maybe they will up the reimbursement..." makes any sense. Have you seen doctor salaries in Germany? $50,000-$60,000 and doctors are still playing "their stupid little game" All of that being said, doctors are generally pretty well respected members of society and they are always going to be pretty well off financially in the US.

England is a pretty good example, I think, of a place where doctors are paid well and medical costs are under control as well (the average General Practitioner in England is paid about $175,000). Specialists can earn more but not as exorbitantly more as in the US. GP salaries are pretty competitive.

Only about 10% of current medical school graduates in the US choose primary care. Primary care salaries need to go slightly up, specialty doctor salaries need to go down. It's going to happen no matter what.

Also, tennisball80, I don't think the companies chose to do that out of the goodness of their hearts and make healthy food cheaper haha, although how wonderful that would be haha! It's just how it works out. I know that in India McDonalds is a pretty high class fast food restaurant place. American fast food is just more expensive when outsourced to other countries.

As for "higher tax rates" and all that, um, the British government spends less on healthcare per person than the US government. On top of that, the private sector spends tons of money on healthcare as well in the US. (Source: WHO). Sure, there will probably be higher tax rates or defecits in the short term but the money saved in the long term will make it a very very good return on investment.

So...should you be worried? Nah, we'll probably still be able to live in big houses and drive around nice cars a few years out of residency.

The big houses and the nice cars are all fine and dandy but I'd rather be able to pay off my copious students loans that I know without a doubt are going to pile up.

As for places like Sweden and Germany, I have a suspicion that they don't have to put up with all the malpractice lawsuits and the taxes that we do over here in the states.

I also found this interesting...

http://www.pnhp.org/facts/singlepayer_faq.php

"
Why not make people who are higher risk pay higher premiums?

Experience-rated insurance requires higher risk people to pay higher premiums. This approach says that people who have had cancer in the past, or who have chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension, or who have had dangerous exposures to substances like asbestos, must pay more because they are at higher risk of using health services. Experience rating allows insurance companies to cherry-pick the healthiest people and either refuse to insure the sickest or, what amounts to the same thing, charge prohibitively high rates. This approach makes no sense. The whole point of insurance is to spread the risk so that everyone is covered. If you raise premiums - and thereby exclude from coverage - those people unfortunate enough to be sick, you defeat the point of both insurance and the health care system. Genetic conditions, childhood diseases, accidents, injuries and income distribution (or how much equality there is in a society) play a much bigger role in people’s health than “individual lifestyle” factors. And we know that even for motivated patients, alcohol and tobacco cessation are difficult, and medical weight loss nearly impossible. We need public health, primary care and education programs to try to prevent disease, but punishing patients once they are ill is inhumane and counterproductive.
Community-rated health insurance is the socially fair approach. It spreads the risks evenly among all the insured. It removes the punitive element. It does not discriminate against the very sick, nor against those of us who are at higher risk because of our age (say, over 50) or our gender (reproductive-age females have higher health expenses than men, for obvious reasons).
Health care should be organized as a public service, like a fire department. A health system organized as a business is discriminatory and accountable to no one. At some point in our lives all of us will predictably need health care. Hence health insurance is unlike any other form of insurance; we all are involved."


.......You can't read that and then attempt to explain to me how a system like that is supposed to function for any length of time.

I thought this was supposed to be the United States of America. What would the forefathers think about all this?

 

[johnstoops2005]

Germany's highest tax brackets are higher than the US...45%..plus additional taxes in one form of another make it even higher. As a general statement, individual tax rates are higher across the board in Europe as compared to the USA for richer people.

Also, making it illegal for insurance companies to cherry pick and deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions...umm sorry that's included in every single bill in the House and Senate, Republican, Democrat, or bi-partisan...so that's gonna happen for sure.
And yeah a system like that DOES work and has for many years in all other OECD countries other than the USA.

 

[Brando989]

Germany's highest tax brackets are higher than the US...45%..plus additional taxes in one form of another make it even higher. As a general statement, individual tax rates are higher across the board in Europe as compared to the USA for richer people.

Also, making it illegal for insurance companies to cherry pick and deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions...umm sorry that's included in every single bill in the House and Senate, Republican, Democrat, or bi-partisan...so that's gonna happen for sure.
And yeah a system like that DOES work and has for many years in all other OECD countries other than the USA.

Yes well the tax brackets for this new plan are expected to be 50% and up.

And ummm sorry, but how is it considered fair that I have to pay for the obese woman who smokes for 30 years, develops health problems and then requires treatment? People need to take responsibility for their own health, not the taxpayers or the federal government.

Oh and by the way, if Americans were interested in doing things the European way, we'd have a parliament deciding on these issues right now and a good majority of our current individual rights would not exist.

A large amount of Americans disagree with this plan that is being pushed through legislation.

A one-payer system is scary. It conjures up too many other socialist concepts. I don't like where this is headed at all.

The government has way too much control and that's never a good thing in the long-term.

 

[johnstoops2005]

HA tax brackets 50% or higher just for health insurance? I can assure you that is not true, I doubt even Rush Limbaugh is making claims like that. And like the WHO stats make abundantly clear, the US government already spends more than the UK government per person. Health reform WILL save money in the long run, definitely. Do you really want to fast forward 20 years and see 1/3 of the GDP being eaten up by healthcare? Do you know Starbucks spends more money on healthcare than on coffee?

And you already DO pay for the uninsured. The average family pays $1000 extra per year (source: various studies, easily find links on google) because of care that is provided to the uninsured. Also, employer based health insurance is already required to give healthcare to employees regardless of whether they're obese or not...except when people do have diabetes, genetic conditions, etc. people pretty much HAVE to stay with their job at all costs, which stagnates the economy. These types of things cost the economy an estimated loss of 100 billion dollars according to the Institute of Medicine and other such sources.

If you really believe the whole "I don't want to pay for other people" line then you shouldn't have health insurance...or any type of insurance at all. Which, btw I think is a bad idea, I think you should stick with having insurance.

And I'm not saying we should adopt the European way, I'm saying we should learn from what does work (people can lie, the numbers which I've cited cannot). What individual rights do Europeans not have btw? -_-

Also, we are not going to a single payer sytem anytime soon. Far from that.

 

[Brando989]

hmm...

I guess all we really can do is wait. Twenty years from now, we will either have a very efficient and cost-effective health care system or a bureaucratic mess. There is no gray area for this kind of thing. Right now we have excellent healthcare, but the prices are high and a limited margin of people have access to this system.

But what do I really know? I'm just a high school freshmen...

Cheers

 

[CScull]

No offense but that line of thinking is a little troublesome. Even if you're not going into medicine for the money (and no one should) you should still be aware of the financial implications of national healthcare or doctor reimbursement reductions.

As a high schooler, it's incredibly easy to say you have no problem earning 125k-200k rather than $500k but you likely haven't accounted for every cost.

Becoming a doctor is a long AND expensive process. Suppose you go to private undergrad and med school. You could be looking at $300-400k in loans. There are many that have loans in that amount. Then imagine you only make $150k per year, and potentially will lose half of that or more when nationalized healthcare comes (50% tax brackets). How do you expect to pay back those loans and start a family, buy a house/car, etc????

Furthermore, the money between doctors and patients is rather zero-sum. That is to say, if a doctor makes less money then he has to see more patients. This lowers the time spent with each individual patient and lowers overall quality of care. That's worse for both patients and doctors. Doctors won't just magically agree to be paid less.

I see the more troublesome aspects of healthcare as private insurance and pharmaceuticals.

When you say pharmaceuticals I hope your just talking about the companies that make drugs and not the Pharmacists themselves, but I've got this sinking feeling in my gut you're talking about both...

please tell me I'm just being silly.

 

[Caesar]

Yes well the tax brackets for this new plan are expected to be 50% and up.

And ummm sorry, but how is it considered fair that I have to pay for the obese woman who smokes for 30 years, develops health problems and then requires treatment? People need to take responsibility for their own health, not the taxpayers or the federal government.

Oh and by the way, if Americans were interested in doing things the European way, we'd have a parliament deciding on these issues right now and a good majority of our current individual rights would not exist.

A large amount of Americans disagree with this plan that is being pushed through legislation.

A one-payer system is scary. It conjures up too many other socialist concepts. I don't like where this is headed at all.

The government has way too much control and that's never a good thing in the long-term.

You pay for them anyway. The difference is you will be paying for $100 PCP visits instead of $500 ER visits.

Most patients do NOT think that way of the physicians. Some do and they happen to be louder than the rest. Sure most think they make a lot of money (they do) but when it comes down to it, they know the doctor is probably right, and often times they listen.

Compliance is a problem though, and Pharmaceutical companies bombarding the general public through advertising doesn't help at all.

Furthermore, the fact that many of our insurance companies are "for-profit" makes the situation that much worse. Their "business" is making money off of people fearing illness, and then when they DO become ill doing everything in their power to pay as little as possible.

As far as taxes... I have yet to see a document indicating a 50% tax on physician salaries. I think you are exaggerating. The most significant taxes come on those making 400,000 or more (which I think is about 1% of physicians). It is said all over on the boards, if you are going into medicine for money, find a different profession. You can work far less, for far more in other areas.

There will always be doctors. The claim that there won't is unfounded and a scare tactic. There will always be doctors.

Also, what individual rights are you talking about exactly? That part just didn't make sense to me.

 

[GoodmanBrown]

hmm...

I guess all we really can do is wait. Twenty years from now, we will either have a very efficient and cost-effective health care system or a bureaucratic mess. There is no gray area for this kind of thing. Right now we have excellent healthcare, but the prices are high and a limited margin of people have access to this system.

But what do I really know? I'm just a high school freshmen...

Cheers

Brando, I appreciate some of your concerns, and I think they're definitely legitimate. Here are a few thoughts:

1) I disagree that there is no gray area. In my mind, it's all gray area. To some extent, there will always be uninsured people in the US. First of all, none of the current bills even mentions illegal immigrants because that's political suicide these days. So, undocuments will still be uninsured unless they get individual insurance or are default covered by their employer. Further, we all know certain individuals will flout the law and not get insurance though it's required. Some may pay a fee or fine, but others will slip through the cracks.

2) There will definitely be extra bureaucratic hassles to deal with. Whatever bill passes, the health care (and insurance) industry will come under extra governmental regulation. Even if there is no public option, insurance companies won't be able to rescind coverage and will probably no longer be able to choose who to cover. Extra oversight is a given. This will bring about some efficiencies (no more full-time screeners for people applying), but certainly cause extra headaches at other times. So, it's a mixed bag.

3) Reimbursements will probably fall, and this will be frustrating for doctors. I definitely feel the pain for future and current doctors. My family practice doctor was so tired of being a doctor because as Ponger said, as reimbursements fell, he had to see more patients to keep his practice afloat. The big deal here is that a doctor's salary comes after all other expenses. So, if he had to cover $350K in a year in revenue to pay his $150K salary, if he missed by 10% and only pulled in $315K, that took a $35K chunk out of his salary. His receptionist wasn't going to take the hit, and his building, insurance, etc. wasn't going to go lower. So, any missed revenue is directly lost income. So, as easy as it is to say, "I can live off of $150K." if reimbursements fall, your income falls fastest. So, the squeeze is going to come to doctors I think in the next 10 years, and it will be interesting to see how it all shakes out. I wouldn't be surprised if boycotts of Medicare happen before it's all said and done. We'll see. But at any rate, I think it's inevitable whether a public option occurs or not because Medicare plans to slowly lower its rates over the next 10 years as well and Medicare is the base upon which insurance companies reimburse, so they'll lower their rates as well.

All in all, expect to be forced to get political if you're interested in being a doctor. Unlike a fair number of jobs, the government one way or another already holds your livelihood in their hands, and I think it'll only get stronger.

 

[lamp37]

And ummm sorry, but how is it considered fair that I have to pay for the obese woman who smokes for 30 years, develops health problems and then requires treatment? People need to take responsibility for their own health, not the taxpayers or the federal government.

Oh and by the way, if Americans were interested in doing things the European way, we'd have a parliament deciding on these issues right now and a good majority of our current individual rights would not exist.



A one-payer system is scary. It conjures up too many other socialist concepts. I don't like where this is headed at all.

The government has way too much control and that's never a good thing in the long-term.

So I have a question for you...how does healthcare differ from, say, police protection? If someone is in your house with a gun, and you call police, you aren't going to get a bill from the police station. So how come this is all good and consitutional, but single payer health care is socialism? Using your logic, is it unfair that taxpayers have to pay for police protection of, say, drug addicts, who are more likely to be involved in crime?

 

[DrYoda]

Yes well the tax brackets for this new plan are expected to be 50% and up.

The last tax proposal I saw was an upper federal tax bracket raised to ~40% and then a ~5% surtax added to those making 1 mil or more per year.

I would also not be suprised if in the near future the medicare tax ceiling is substancially raised or eliminated altogether, but that's just my thought.

1) I disagree that there is no gray area. In my mind, it's all gray area. To some extent, there will always be uninsured people in the US. First of all, none of the current bills even mentions illegal immigrants because that's political suicide these days. So, undocuments will still be uninsured unless they get individual insurance or are default covered by their employer. Further, we all know certain individuals will flout the law and not get insurance though it's required. Some may pay a fee or fine, but others will slip through the cracks.

Agree with this. It's very rare in life to find anything that is completly black and white. Especially something as complicated as the final plan will probably be.

 

[CaliforniaKid]

The future of health care is ...................ME!!!!!

 

[lamp37]

The future of health care is ...................ME!!!!!

lol, good answer

 

[denner]

I agree with that train of thought. Preventative medicine is always the best medicine.

As part of this new plan, they are talking about investing money to set up programs to educate the population.



In my opinion there is more than enough education to be retained on proper health..

The problem is....alot of Americans are *****s.
Absolutely correct, and for anyone that disagrees with this statement, watch the first 20 minutes of Idiocracy and realize that movie wasn't a comedy, it was a documentary from the future. The best part is we, with our tax dollars support these types of people. Thank goodness we have community organizers to fight for them .

They seem to think they can screw up their health, because there will always be a way to fix it, and they will be back to their old invincible selves.
And that has been caused by the entitlement mentality that has been bred into Americans for generations and we are finally seeing its true ramifications. Somebody else will always pay for it. Except that somebody is us, the same people who are taking care of them. And guess what, the amount of producers in this country is constantly losing ground to the non-producers, so that **** ain't gonna work for a whole lot longer, there will be a breaking point and it won't be pretty. People also take advantage of the fact that most physicians are willing to be a martyr for the cause, to be the ones left holding the bag, and its a damn shame the way physicians are being bent over a barrel right now. Unfortunately (and fortunately I guess) most physicians keep on trucking through it because they care for the welfare of their patients, and that's admirable, but I wouldn't stand for it so I got the hell out with the quickness.

I see it everyday in the people involved in my own life. They have their own ideas and don't want to listen to the doctor.

Because in their minds, the doctor is just a greedy, egoistical, demi-god wanna be..

That annoys me to no end.

I also think doctors should be well supplemented for the crap they put up with.

That's okay though, the politicians will learn the hard way. When there is no doctors left to play their stupid little game, maybe they will up the reimbursement...
No, the politicians will have physicians, the rest of us plebs will have to fend for ourselves and go to our "Doctors" of Nurse Practicioning, oh joy.

We need reform, but we don't need socialized reform.
My favorite is that people think the government will solve this. Name one thing on such a large scale as this that they have ever "fixed." No, they will just put a band-aid on it, except that the band-aid has MRSA on it and we will end up worse than before they started, just like always.

I wasn't trying to go after what you wrote brando, I actually agree with most of it, I was just using it to explain my own thoughts.

 

[xmsr3]

Obese Apocolypse, Check out this slideshow from the CDC of the obesity rates per state from 1985 to 2008.

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html

Obesity is like a deadly disease sweeping relentlessly and uncontrolably across America.

Then take a look at this study, which predicts that by 2030 86% of Americans will be overweight and 51% obese and that we will have to spend an additional $900 BILLION to treat obesity related illnesses.

http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v1...y2008351a.html

In fact that study predicts that 100% of Americans will be overweight by 2048, with obesity up to something like 60% of the country. Given that I have recently heard of study that claims 80% of toddlers are overweight and since schools are now funding themselves by selling pop and fast food in their cafeterias I think the liklihood is that the obesity epidemic will not soon end.

So what will healthcare look like if these predictions come to pass? More importantly how will our nation look?

Well I think one thing is certain. The cost of treating all those blimps will come to 40% of GDP and our economy will crumble.

The solution? Mandatory education in all levels of school for nutrion and PE.

Specifically in nutrion class teach kids how much to eat, (in terms of calories) and how to replace high cal foods with low cal foods but that tastes great. For example, replace burgers with turkey burgers, hot dogs with turkey dogs, regular ketcup with reduced sugar ketchup, butter with butter substitute, (o cal) and the wonders of egg white omlettes, which can be made to taste freat with some zero cal mustard and pepper and only have 210 cal for a giant, plate size omlette.

Then in PE, make sure to teach it right. No more mile runs where you just tell the kids to run and they end up hating running. Teach them proper form, (for running do it at a pace you can maintain the entire run, this will at least let them finish with a sense of accomplishment, ie I ran the whole way, so they are less likely to hate running in the future). The same with other activities, make them fun, give the kids a love of excericse that will serve them their whole lives.

ON TOP OF THAT WE NEED STRONG CARROT AND STICKS!

We need to offer incentives for people to live healthy lives and punish those that choose an unhealthy one.

Perhaps higher taxes on the obese which fund rebates to the fit?

I know that seems harsh, but for gods sake people that slide show dosn't lie and we are facing a crisis like non other. We are litteraly eating oursheves to death!

Can any of these reforms work? Can we launch a real war on obesity and mean it? NO!

Not in a democracy where 2/3 of the public is already overweight. No politician will ever lift a hand against their fat consitituents for fear of being labeled fatist or some such nonsense.

So what is the solution, if our Republic will never be willing to do what is necessary to solve this problem? The answer is simple.

Military Coup

When our healthcare system brings down the economy and politicians are unwilling to save our country the same thing will happen as has happened in every other country, the military will step in and insitute a massive boot camp for the whole country.

Universal healthcare will be made available, but only to those who meet the physical standards of 22% for men, 24% for women.

Personally, I will welcome this because I have no faith that this country will ever shape up on its own. That is partially why I am going into military medicine, so I can live in a socialistic system where everyone is given a duty to perform and in return for doing it and staying in shape they are guranteed food, shelter, education, healthcare and a pension.

And on the plus side, by the time of the coup, (25 years or so) I will be on my way to making Colonel so I will be one of the elites in our new society!

 

[TopSecret]

It's going to be the beginning of the end for certain specialties like radiology. No more gravy train specialties after health care is reformed.

 

[GoodmanBrown]

I hope to god that you're either joking or never, ever have a chance to treat any patient ever. Or hold a gun...

Obese Apocolypse, Check out this slideshow from the CDC of the obesity rates per state from 1985 to 2008.

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html

Obesity is like a deadly disease sweeping relentlessly and uncontrolably across America.

Then take a look at this study, which predicts that by 2030 86% of Americans will be overweight and 51% obese and that we will have to spend an additional $900 BILLION to treat obesity related illnesses.

http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v1...y2008351a.html

In fact that study predicts that 100% of Americans will be overweight by 2048, with obesity up to something like 60% of the country. Given that I have recently heard of study that claims 80% of toddlers are overweight and since schools are now funding themselves by selling pop and fast food in their cafeterias I think the liklihood is that the obesity epidemic will not soon end.

So what will healthcare look like if these predictions come to pass? More importantly how will our nation look?

Well I think one thing is certain. The cost of treating all those blimps will come to 40% of GDP and our economy will crumble.

The solution? Mandatory education in all levels of school for nutrion and PE.

Specifically in nutrion class teach kids how much to eat, (in terms of calories) and how to replace high cal foods with low cal foods but that tastes great. For example, replace burgers with turkey burgers, hot dogs with turkey dogs, regular ketcup with reduced sugar ketchup, butter with butter substitute, (o cal) and the wonders of egg white omlettes, which can be made to taste freat with some zero cal mustard and pepper and only have 210 cal for a giant, plate size omlette.

Then in PE, make sure to teach it right. No more mile runs where you just tell the kids to run and they end up hating running. Teach them proper form, (for running do it at a pace you can maintain the entire run, this will at least let them finish with a sense of accomplishment, ie I ran the whole way, so they are less likely to hate running in the future). The same with other activities, make them fun, give the kids a love of excericse that will serve them their whole lives.

ON TOP OF THAT WE NEED STRONG CARROT AND STICKS!

We need to offer incentives for people to live healthy lives and punish those that choose an unhealthy one.

Perhaps higher taxes on the obese which fund rebates to the fit?

I know that seems harsh, but for gods sake people that slide show dosn't lie and we are facing a crisis like non other. We are litteraly eating oursheves to death!

Can any of these reforms work? Can we launch a real war on obesity and mean it? NO!

Not in a democracy where 2/3 of the public is already overweight. No politician will ever lift a hand against their fat consitituents for fear of being labeled fatist or some such nonsense.

So what is the solution, if our Republic will never be willing to do what is necessary to solve this problem? The answer is simple.

Military Coup

When our healthcare system brings down the economy and politicians are unwilling to save our country the same thing will happen as has happened in every other country, the military will step in and insitute a massive boot camp for the whole country.

Universal healthcare will be made available, but only to those who meet the physical standards of 22% for men, 24% for women.

Personally, I will welcome this because I have no faith that this country will ever shape up on its own. That is partially why I am going into military medicine, so I can live in a socialistic system where everyone is given a duty to perform and in return for doing it and staying in shape they are guranteed food, shelter, education, healthcare and a pension.

And on the plus side, by the time of the coup, (25 years or so) I will be on my way to making Colonel so I will be one of the elites in our new society!

 

[CScull]

Obese Apocolypse, Check out this slideshow from the CDC of the obesity rates per state from 1985 to 2008.

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html

Obesity is like a deadly disease sweeping relentlessly and uncontrolably across America.

Then take a look at this study, which predicts that by 2030 86% of Americans will be overweight and 51% obese and that we will have to spend an additional $900 BILLION to treat obesity related illnesses.

http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v1...y2008351a.html

In fact that study predicts that 100% of Americans will be overweight by 2048, with obesity up to something like 60% of the country. Given that I have recently heard of study that claims 80% of toddlers are overweight and since schools are now funding themselves by selling pop and fast food in their cafeterias I think the liklihood is that the obesity epidemic will not soon end.

So what will healthcare look like if these predictions come to pass? More importantly how will our nation look?

Well I think one thing is certain. The cost of treating all those blimps will come to 40% of GDP and our economy will crumble.

The solution? Mandatory education in all levels of school for nutrion and PE.

Specifically in nutrion class teach kids how much to eat, (in terms of calories) and how to replace high cal foods with low cal foods but that tastes great. For example, replace burgers with turkey burgers, hot dogs with turkey dogs, regular ketcup with reduced sugar ketchup, butter with butter substitute, (o cal) and the wonders of egg white omlettes, which can be made to taste freat with some zero cal mustard and pepper and only have 210 cal for a giant, plate size omlette.

Then in PE, make sure to teach it right. No more mile runs where you just tell the kids to run and they end up hating running. Teach them proper form, (for running do it at a pace you can maintain the entire run, this will at least let them finish with a sense of accomplishment, ie I ran the whole way, so they are less likely to hate running in the future). The same with other activities, make them fun, give the kids a love of excericse that will serve them their whole lives.

ON TOP OF THAT WE NEED STRONG CARROT AND STICKS!

We need to offer incentives for people to live healthy lives and punish those that choose an unhealthy one.

Perhaps higher taxes on the obese which fund rebates to the fit?

I know that seems harsh, but for gods sake people that slide show dosn't lie and we are facing a crisis like non other. We are litteraly eating oursheves to death!

Can any of these reforms work? Can we launch a real war on obesity and mean it? NO!

Not in a democracy where 2/3 of the public is already overweight. No politician will ever lift a hand against their fat consitituents for fear of being labeled fatist or some such nonsense.

So what is the solution, if our Republic will never be willing to do what is necessary to solve this problem? The answer is simple.

Military Coup

When our healthcare system brings down the economy and politicians are unwilling to save our country the same thing will happen as has happened in every other country, the military will step in and insitute a massive boot camp for the whole country.

Universal healthcare will be made available, but only to those who meet the physical standards of 22% for men, 24% for women.

Personally, I will welcome this because I have no faith that this country will ever shape up on its own. That is partially why I am going into military medicine, so I can live in a socialistic system where everyone is given a duty to perform and in return for doing it and staying in shape they are guranteed food, shelter, education, healthcare and a pension.

And on the plus side, by the time of the coup, (25 years or so) I will be on my way to making Colonel so I will be one of the elites in our new society!

Sarcastic, or not, this is hilarious. It reminds me of that essay about eating babies...

 

[ToldYouSo]

I wish ppl took care of themselves more. What's so fun about being fat?