Comments on: McCain’s health care plan: Throw fat people to the wolves

By: Amber

Amber — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 15:05:36 +0000

We cannot afford to put me on my husbands health insurance. So, I have been calling around for quotes. I am 5’3″ and weigh 210. I have been flat out denied at every turn. What are people like myself supposed to do? How do we get coverage? I am floored that I could not obtain independant health insurance. Any suggestions?

By: Special K

Special K — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 02:44:27 +0000

What gets to me is that even though my current employer offers health insurance with a decent-enough health care company here in Oregon, our company’s policy premium is really really high. I’m guessing this is in part a reflection on our staff–many of whom are considered obese/mobidly obese by BMI standards. I have to say I really enjoy working in a place where heavier women are welcomed and its sad that the more of us that fall into that category, the higher our premiums go despite the fact that our company offers free yoga classes on-site and regularly pays for us to join other opportunities to get out and get active. Its truly depressing that my state’s “high risk” insurance pool would actually be cheaper if I qualified by not having coverage through my employer.

By: Down Comforter

Down Comforter — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 02:38:39 +0000

Great research – thanks for bringing to the light!

By: keshmeshi

keshmeshi — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 03:40:56 +0000

Well, the advantage of that plan is that it might make the whole health insurance system collapse.

I'm imagining pitchforks and torches.

I love how McCain suddenly cares so much about fairness, as in it’s unfair that some people get health insurance tax-free.

Yeah, well, he could offer a tax break to people who have private insurance. But he's a Republican, so of course he'd rather just burn the whole thing to the ground.

I can’t see how fat Americans will benefit if, instead of being accused of raising insurance premiums for a relative few they were instead (as in the UK) to be charged with increasing the compulsory tax contributions of the entire population.

Frankly, that's already happening here. People either complain about having to pay higher health insurance premiums (as if that's the fault of the fatties, and not medical advancements + greedy insurance companies) and having to pay higher taxes (for Medicare, Medicaid, and emergency care for the poor and indigent).

By: Rosa

Rosa — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 21:16:36 +0000

richie79, you’re right if you think of FA as only being the perception of fat people.

But universal health care would help most fat people by getting us more money and getting more of us medical care. About 1/3 of Americans don’t have health insurance, which for most of them means no medical care except the emergency room – and since poorer people are more likely to be fat here, that’s definitely a FA issue in the larger sense of “being good to fat people.”

By: Kelly

Kelly — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:35:41 +0000

I was denied coverage for having a BMI in the “Overweight” range. I believe it was 29.8 at the time – which I realize is very close to 30, but I was actually in a losing trend at that point, which I couldn’t explain to the company that just rubber-stamped me denied.

By: fatgirlonadate

fatgirlonadate — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 03:08:04 +0000

I was declined for a high deductible plan (!) for my “build (height/weight)” (direct quote from my letter). With the plan I did purchase, I pay an additional 50% for undisclosed reasons (the possible outcomes were the quoted premium, 25% increase, 50% increase or rejection).

By: living400lbs

living400lbs — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 03:54:44 +0000

Re: coverage for obesity “treatment”, The Rotund linked to this fabulous paper from UCLA – http://mann.bol.ucla.edu/files/Diets_don%27t_work.pdf

Titled “Medicare’s Search for Effective Obesity Treatments: Diets Are Not the Answer”, it reviewed 31 studies and determines that diets only result in temporary weight loss, followed by regain. In addition, a significant subset of dieters regain more than they lost, resulting in a net gain. Therfore the paper recommends that Medicare not cover weight loss diet and/or exercise programs because they do not work.

And yes, Weight Watchers is one of the treatments included :)

By: Ego

Ego — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 02:17:39 +0000

Eesh. x_x I’m so glad I live in a country where public health cover is the norm. My (obese) American cousins are seriously thinking about moving to Canada if McCain gets in, because they won’t be able to get any kind of health insurance.

(On a side note, I’m slightly astounded by the incredible length of American election campaigns. xD Australia’s had a new PM since the start of this year, and our election campaigns started a good couple of months after yours did.)

By: Poet With a Day Job

Poet With a Day Job — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 01:26:17 +0000

Well, according to BMI and the myriad other faulty “health indicators” (eg: ways to decide someone’s fat and punish them physically and emotionally and scar them for the rest of their lives – not that I know anything about that) we have in the US healthcare system, McCain would be considered obese, Palin probably too.