12 Responses to “Promote Thyself”

1. #1 |  Brady |  February 27th, 2004 at 10:49 am

   I completely agree with you suggestion that people who make strides to live a healthy lifestyle should pay lower premiums that the common couch potato. It is surprising that it is not more commonplace to reduce someones health insurance rate if they pass a physical showing they live a healthy lifestyle, just as auto insurers give discounts to safe drivers.

   Perhaps in the shift from employee sponsored plans to consumer direct plans more strides will be made in this area. Of course, money is the ultimate motivator, and if someone starts seeing their bill increase with their waste size – a corporate version of a fat tax – it is more likely they’ll get their ass on the treadmill.

   Of course, Americans should do something about obesity, which will lower our pathetic reliance on prescription drugs and increase our overall health. We should just make sure that the government’s role is minimal.

2. #2 |  Aaron |  February 27th, 2004 at 11:06 am

   Mmmmmm…bacon sandwiches…

3. #3 |  Ed |  February 27th, 2004 at 11:42 am

   The life insurance business already does this to some extent. If you take a certain medical exam and can prove that you don’t smoke you get a ‘preferred’ status and cheaper life insurance. Why not the same with healthcare? If you can pass a physical once a year you get cheaper rates. I’m game!

4. #4 |  Benjamin |  February 27th, 2004 at 3:24 pm

   Loved the Fox column. Completely agree with you. However, I believe you fell short in addressing the real issue, and I know that there are space restrictions, but…

   Anyways, universal healthcare is coming. My wife is currently getting her Master’s in Health Administration, and all of her professors just love Hillary and believe that she is correcting her mistakes of the early 90s. Further, they are breeding the leaders of tomorrow to believe in universal healthcare. The mantra I hear all the time is along the lines of, “why can’t the richest nation in the world provide medical services to every single person?” The issue it seems, to me at least, is that if universal healthcare is indeed an impending doom, then how do we deal with it? I would love to see the personal responsibility that you column preaches. I personally believe that we must prepare for this battle now to try to “head it off at the pass.”

5. #5 |  Henry Baugh |  February 27th, 2004 at 3:58 pm

   I don’t mean to criticize, but from most of the post I get the idea that most of the posters haven’t the slightest idea of what is is to live in a no TV era and all cars were stick shift.

   In 1947 a group of people got together and said to the medical profession that they should just practice medicine and not collect bills and they would sell the idea that for a monthly stipend we could have a third party pay the medical bills via INSURANCE!

   For a while it went well the policy holders paid for a Blue Cross Blue Shield plan the magnificient sum of $5.00 each month. Hell I had a Prudential Major Medical plan with a $3,000 deductible and a $15,000 top to be applied to the bill at 75% of the total cost, the premium was $2.50 monthly.

   Drs. being human began to look at the possibilities of draining a little of the insurance money their way and fees went from $5.00 per office visit to what we enjoy today.

   Lawyers are an envious bunch especially where money is concerned and they said we ought to get some of that insurance money and they had learned what the word nuisance meant and how it excited insurance companies, they began to ask juries to award something called pain and suffering and our $5.00 per month is now nearly $350 per month.

   Then we had LBJ who said ol’ folks need medicare and all hell broke loose. It’ll break the nation but honest ol’ LBJ would never lie,(only if he thought no one would know)he stoutly defended his position by boldly stating without equivocation that the total cost of Medicare will never exceed $65.Billion annually.

   When medicare became a reality it was like the dike breaking. It was a toss up who would raise the rate first, Doctors,Insurance Co’. When lawyers got into the picture and the value of nuisance became a financial nightmare.

   Please tell me where we went wrong? Our intentions were golden, but the streets of hell are paved with good intentions. Look down for god’s sake, and realize what we are walkin’ on.

6. #6 |  michelle |  February 27th, 2004 at 6:05 pm

   good article. is there really an organization of trial lawyers who are advising its members to weed out jurors with a bias toward personal responsibility? what is this group? those are the bad guys willie nelson refers to when he says “hang ‘em up in the street. for all the people to see. justice is the one thing..” michelle

7. #7 |  Anonymous |  February 27th, 2004 at 9:36 pm

   more on this at catallarchy.net

8. #8 |  Henry Baugh |  February 28th, 2004 at 12:12 am

   Michelle
   Go to the alphabetical listing in the FBI’s Freedom of Information Act. Look and read the memo submitted on Clarence Darrow. He offers the most comprehensive set of rules for picking a jury I’ve ever read.

9. #9 |  CommieWatch.org |  February 28th, 2004 at 6:29 pm

   Government Gets Fat Fighting Obesity

   Radley Balko of The Agitator fame writes a piece for Fox News regarding “the relationship between socialized health care, obesity, and personal responsibility.” Some prime quotes: The war against obesity is the logical conclusion of our wars against ce…

10. #10 |  michelle |  February 28th, 2004 at 10:25 pm

    henry baugh
    darrow certainly had his ideas about men and their religion, country of origin, etc…curious fellow. wonder how many cases he won v. lost during his career? arrogant as anything too “do not, please, accept a prohibitionist, he is too solemn and holy and dyspeptic.” this is good stuff. tx for the article. michelle

11. #11 |  Anonymous |  March 1st, 2004 at 11:26 am

    Who is Peter Fitzgerald and why is his picture shown with your Fox News column?

---