Anti-tax: Can an effective health care plan be created without addressing obesity?

You like the picture? You'll have to read on to get the explanation.

Until then think about this…

“The current health-care system gives insurance companies all the power. They get to pick and choose who gets a policy. They can deny coverage because of a preexisting condition. They can offer coverage only at exorbitant rates — or offer coverage so thin that it's no coverage at all. Americans are left to worry about whether they'll get laid off and lose their insurance or wake up from surgery with a $10,000 bill because they didn't read the fine print on their policy.” -HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius

People who suffer with obesity deserve the right to health care. The health care they need is to lose weight. Only a physician can best diagnose your weight issue and give you the options according to your health and lifestyle. It is important to work with your doctor in this journey. So without directly addressing obesity, health care can still be effective because it eliminates any pre-existing condition clauses.

Think about…CAPITALISM

Capitalism is America’s baby and if messed with ugly heads will be raised. With health care reform the government is backed by many large Fortune 500 companies to lend its support. Tackling health care reform with the addition of addressing obesity directly gets more complicated. “Cheap food is going to be popular as long as the social and environmental costs of that food are charged to the future. There's lots of money to be made selling fast food and then treating the diseases that fast food causes. One of the leading products of the American food industry has become patients for the American health care industry.” Including obesity directly into health care could befuddle it to be enacted.

Think about…ALTERNATE SOLUTIONS

Michelle Obama has planted a garden. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints promotes its members to not eat anything that would harm the body. Tobacco companies are targeted in anti-smoking ads on television. There are many ways that people can hear the message about obesity without it being included in the health care bill. PETA's billboard at the top of the post is a perfect example of how obesity, a crucial issue, can be addressed by an organization other than the government. Health care is already such a sensitive subject, why clutter it with ideas that can be expressed through other channels.