Mikado463

Mikado463

Audioholic Spartan
It's incredible how some people here think that if people live healthy* lifestyles they will never have a need for healthcare. All or nothing thinking.

(*define healthy)
really ?? who said that ??
 
nbk13nw

nbk13nw

Full Audioholic
That's not what anyone is saying here. However, there should be an incentive for not smoking, limiting alcohol consumption, not using recreational drugs, not being obese, not eating junk food... at least making the effort to maintain good health.
I am a smoker and pay an extra $500 per year for health insurance. If and when I stop smoking for a full calendar year my premium will drop by that same amount .
 
nbk13nw

nbk13nw

Full Audioholic
Now there's an incentive.
Actually it is an additional $1000 per year, but if I take the wellness exam (Basic checkup) and fill out their health based questionnaire every year I get a $500 discount. I have done this every year for the past 20 years. So my additional cost is $500 yearly. But yes, it is an incentive to try and stay healthy and quit smoking.
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
I agree smokers and the like pay a premium but where does the trickle down end. How much fast food does one eat, fried food, daily water intake, exercise, hell break it down to sugary drinks...everyone's lifestyles are different, theres still the one solid issue that is for some reason soo ignorant to say; Take Responsibility Of Your Self.
I went in for to the nearest hospital after having palpitations one evening and after finding that I hadn't had a heart attack, they ordered a stress test. I passed and the doctor started asking about smoking, drinking, sugary soda and caffeine consumption. They need to dig deep for info when someone is obese and seems unhealthy just from appearance- it can only help if these people would make better choices and get some exercise. Even if they justify it as a money-saving effort, the health benefits will come with it.

I recently started walking a lot and changed what/how much I eat- lifting weights isn't something I plan to do often because I have bad shoulders but as long as I don't lift in a way that's painful, they don't bother me too much. Part of what I do for work comes with physical activity but it's not usually aerobic- that I need to do on my own but with a small breakfast & lunch, I can eat what I want and I have been buying food for the meal, rather than having a lot of leftovers (which I had been overindulging in). I had also cut back on carbs. The result is: I'm down 2-3 belt notches, I can wear a lot of pants that hadn't fit in years and when I buy blue jeans, the waist is 2" smaller and I'm no longer buying relaxed fit.

There's fast food and there's bad fast food- it's not hard to see which is which when the menu shows nutritional info but people need to make the choice. I don't drink and I never smoked, so that's not a problem but strapping the ol' feed bag on was a problem, as was inactivity.

As I have posted before, parents dictate what their kids can and can't do (with mixed results, obviously) and while we aren't the children of the government or health insurance companies, when someone is paying for the care we need, I think it's OK for them to recommend better choices. If those choices aren't made and/or the lifestyle is clearly contributing to the poor health of the insured, higher premiums should be part of the package, if only out of fairness to the others paying into the provider. However, the problem in the US is that the health insurance companies make decisions about the care we receive and deny it if they want- that's not health care, that's collecting money and keeping it. They "keep" so much that if they were out of the way, our health care would cost less and more people would receive the care they need.
 
Out-Of-Phase

Out-Of-Phase

Audioholic General
I've started walking too. I've been doing that now for about 5 years. No salty-sugary junk food, lots of water. I try to walk 3-4 miles a day. Yes, it has helped. It has helped my back, my brain, my stress and my blood pressure. Highly recommended.
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
I've started walking too. I've been doing that now for about 5 years. No salty-sugary junk food, lots of water. I try to walk 3-4 miles a day. Yes, it has helped. It has helped my back, my brain, my stress and my blood pressure. Highly recommended.
I have heard about the recommendation that people take 10K steps every day- I started a part-time job in September and the first day, my iPhone's activity monitor showed almost 11K, the second full day showed almost 15K steps. I guess that explains why I slept so well.....
 
Out-Of-Phase

Out-Of-Phase

Audioholic General
Yes. And I walk fast too to get the most out of it. I've noticed that it feels more like a workout than just walking slowly.
 
Out-Of-Phase

Out-Of-Phase

Audioholic General
Here's the thing about walking, you will notice things walking down the street that you never noticed before while driving. Houses, yards, driveways, trees, gardens, etc. Everything is slowed way down. I remember noticing a small house that was way, way back on the lot that was covered by a lot of shrubbery and trees. It amazed me. I thought to myself, I've never seen that house before, weird. Walking is enlightening, and fun too.
 
Alex2507

Alex2507

Audioholic Slumlord
What a coincidence - they just re-aired that program yesterday!
That link had another article about milk in bags!
This is the first time I have ever felt anything even remotely resembling home sickness.
Ordering coffee up there sounds like a hate crime: double milk, homo.
 
GO-NAD!

GO-NAD!

Audioholic Spartan
I held off commenting in this thread after it came back to life, because it just seems to go in circles, with no minds being changed. I expect that the circular arguments will continue until everybody gets tired of repeating himself. However, I will address a few comments, but I won't directly quote anyone.

It was suggested that little medical innovation is occurring in Canada - presumably because of our universal healthcare system. There is no question that most medical research happens in the US. But, if you look at it from a population perspective, the US doesn't really stand out.

On a related note, apparently the US subsidizes drug prices in the rest of the world.

While this may be true, it's only because the US government can't/won't step in to exercise any control over prices. It's entirely likely that if drug prices were regulated, investment in research would drop. So, it could comes down to a choice between research to bring new drugs to market and access to existing drugs for all who need them.

Health care - is it a service or a right? This is a philosophical question. All rights within any particular country are those granted to its citizenry and there's nothing to impede the creation of any particular right, if a nation chooses to make it so. One could say that health care shouldn't be a right, because it means one has to pay for somebody else's ability to exercise it. All rights have costs in one form or another. I'm not saying whether it should, or shouldn't be a right, but we can't just dismiss it as being ridiculous.

Some people who are against a universal public system don't want to subsidize the costs incurred by people with unhealthy lifestyles. What makes this issue any different than subsidizing sugar and lumber companies as a consequence of restricting imports? You're already subsidizing people who end up in ERs because they can't afford primary care - and certainly not emergency care. If they had publically funded care that could address health issues up front, the overall costs could be lower.

Would delivery of health care really be more inefficient in the hands of government? If we drill down into the details, we can certainly find examples - wait times for certain diagnostics and surgeries are longer in Canada than in the US, absolutely. But, for the 44,000,000 people in the US with no health insurance and another 38,000,000 with inadequate coverage, how long do they wait? Until they end up in ERs?

I'm not trying to trigger more argument, just offering food for thought.

I hope everyone had a grand Christmas and New Year. All the best to all you audioholics for 2020!:)
 
GO-NAD!

GO-NAD!

Audioholic Spartan
That link had another article about milk in bags!
This is the first time I have ever felt anything even remotely resembling home sickness.
Ordering coffee up there sounds like a hate crime: double milk, homo.
That reminds me of a discussion I saw on Reddit:

American: Who the 'eff puts milk in bags?
Canadian response: Who the 'eff brings a gun to Walmart?
:D
 
Out-Of-Phase

Out-Of-Phase

Audioholic General
Good points, GO-NAD! Thank you for your replies on this thread. Your comments are much appreciated! I'm afraid that out current administration has no plans for any healthcare reform now or in the next 4 years. Sad.
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
That reminds me of a discussion I saw on Reddit:

American: Who the 'eff puts milk in bags?
Canadian response: Who the 'eff brings a gun to Walmart?
:D
They used to ask the first question about wine, too.

I don't know about the WalMarts in Canada, but they're sometimes robbed here and it's one of the places where shoplifting & other crimes occur frequently. 22 people were killed by one shooter at a WalMart in Aug, 2019.

Again, the majority of shootings aren't caused by the people who are carrying legally but many mass shootings are- shooting sprees and mass shootings are committed by people who went off the rails. Last year, mass shootings resulted in the deaths of 103 people, but in Chicago, 515 people were killed in shootings, 55 fewer than the previous year. I'm using Chicago as an example because that city is only 90 miles from my house and because the stats are very easy to find. St Louis, MO is actually where most murders occur in the US.

Mass shooting stats-

Chicago homicide stats-

The questions about why people are losing their minds hasn't been addressed to any degree of satisfaction (mine, anyway)- the causes are numerous and here in Milwaukee, someone floated the idea that some of the violence is due to lead toxicity in people who have lived in poverty in the City. Not only do many houses still have loose lead paint, many houses have lead pipes feeding water to the houses- the City has done very little to abate this problem over the decades since the use of lead was banned in paint.
 
GO-NAD!

GO-NAD!

Audioholic Spartan
They used to ask the first question about wine, too.

I don't know about the WalMarts in Canada, but they're sometimes robbed here and it's one of the places where shoplifting & other crimes occur frequently. 22 people were killed by one shooter at a WalMart in Aug, 2019.

Again, the majority of shootings aren't caused by the people who are carrying legally but many mass shootings are- shooting sprees and mass shootings are committed by people who went off the rails. Last year, mass shootings resulted in the deaths of 103 people, but in Chicago, 515 people were killed in shootings, 55 fewer than the previous year. I'm using Chicago as an example because that city is only 90 miles from my house and because the stats are very easy to find. St Louis, MO is actually where most murders occur in the US.

Mass shooting stats-

Chicago homicide stats-

The questions about why people are losing their minds hasn't been addressed to any degree of satisfaction (mine, anyway)- the causes are numerous and here in Milwaukee, someone floated the idea that some of the violence is due to lead toxicity in people who have lived in poverty in the City. Not only do many houses still have loose lead paint, many houses have lead pipes feeding water to the houses- the City has done very little to abate this problem over the decades since the use of lead was banned in paint.
I certainly wasn't trying to start yet another discussion about guns! It was just something funny that came to mind when bagged milk came up!

You might be on to something regarding lead though. Crime rates have dropped since lead was banned in paint and gasoline.
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
I certainly wasn't trying to start yet another discussion about guns! It was just something funny that came to mind when bagged milk came up!

You might be on to something regarding lead though. Crime rates have dropped since lead was banned in paint and gasoline.
Crime rates in Canada may have dropped and that may be from removal from gas & paint up there, but the lead paint is still in the inner city here- too many slumlords have been able to avoid dealing with it but to be somewhat fair (they often do NOTHING to improve the places over long periods), the EPA regs for lead abatement are very strict and penalties are stiff, so doing nothing is far less expensive than even doing a bad job of it. Milwaukee is called 'the most segregated city in the US' and IMO, the city government has used a stiff arm tactic to address many problems. They say they want to help, but can't do it effectively, even though the political party in charge hasn't changed in over 100 years.
 

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