President Obama said his Health Care proposal would save $1 trillion, over ten years. Recent estimates by two nonpartisan groups estimate the law will cost $900 billion and save $500 billion in Medicare costs — assuming Congress actually authorizes these alleged Medicare cuts, which is unlikely.
These new reports estimate 15% of hospitals will go out of business and some employers will stop offering medical insurance to their workers.
Poverty
There is a direct correlation between income and obesity rates. In one exhaustive study, obesity rates were found to be 30% in the poorest ZIP codes, six times the 5% rate of obesity in the most affluent neighborhoods.
Under Obamacare, anyone earning 133% of the poverty level gets free Medicare. Individuals up to 400% of the poverty level get some government help in obtaining health insurance.
Many of the poorest people in America, who are also the most overweight, are being enrolled in Obamacare. The anticipated health care costs of Obamacare could, conceivably, be six times the $1 trillion price tag. This assumes Obamacare empowers these people in their lifestyles, which is the universal assumption.
Childhood Obesity
Twenty percent of young people are overweight. One fourth of young people get no exercise at all. It costs a family, or the government, $600k for an obese 18 year old to remain obese throughout life.
Adult Obesity
One third of Americans are obese and another one third are overweight. These conditions account for ten percent of all health care costs, about $100 billion a year, roughly the cost of Obamacare. Being overweight raises the risk for heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, arthritis, and some cancers.
Diabetes
Seventy percent of diabetes risk is due to being overweight. Annual medical costs for a diabetic is $13,000 versus $2,500 for a person without diabetes. The annual cost of diabetes is $150 billion.
Action Items
If everybody in America was “incentivized” to achieve a good weight, we would save upwards of $200 billion a year in medical costs. This would pay for Obamacare and very likely make it possible to extend coverage to the 30 million or so Americans that will still not be covered by Obamacare.
We need to also make efforts to improve the general fitness level of all Americans. The easiest way to do this is with quotas at all levels of sports competition, so individuals of all races have equal access to participate – and aspire.
One third of children are obese. They need daily exercise classes in school, at every level – including college. Studies prove that students who exercise regularly get 25% better grades. What more reason do you need?
