Alabama Gets Healthcare Reform Right
Alabama understands that there is one way to healthcare reform: get people healthier. No other option will work.
Their plan involves charging people 25 dollars a month for their insurance if they do not participate in annual health screenings. Those who do not work to get healthier after the screenings will also have to pay the 25 dollar a month fee. Alabama also charges extra for smokers.
The FoxNews article has a whole host of people complaining about this measure and I want to address them. My first instinct to say “boo hoo hoo” and cry a few crocodile tears. After all, paying a whopping 25 dollars a month as a penalty?? Most people would love to pay such a low amount for health insurance. Also, Alabama regards a 35 BMI as obese. These are generous terms really.
Here are the quotes I want to address:
“This is a dreadful, dreadful policy,” said Judith S. Stern, an obesity expert and nutrition professor at University of California at Davis. “Overweight and obese people, especially women, feel that their weight is private, and being weighed at work is like having a prostate exam in the hall. It’s not appropriate.”
My guess is that the weighing will be done in private. But, no man or woman is an island. A person’s lack of health in the modern insurance scheme is not a private matter since it can negatively impact everyone. I think the Alabama system is fair. It’s kind of like pay to play: you want to smoke and be unhealthy, fine. But, you have to pay more because your risk is more. I’m sure Jeff Gordon’s insurance is more than the little old lady who drives on Sundays.
Medical and social considerations aside, other critics say it’s just not going to work. “There’s the thought that obese people are weak-willed, and if we charge them more they won’t be as fat,” Stern said. “This assumes they have control over what’s involved, and often they don’t.”
This is the aspect of healthcare and our country really that drives me nuts. People are victims and have no control over their lives. I’m sure there are some people who are overweight due to medical conditions. This is not true of the vast majority of people and Ms. Stern does no one (including obese people) any favors by sugarcoating the truth.
Kudos to Alabama for meaningful healthcare reform. I hope Obama is paying attention.
I think discounts for healthiness instead of fees for unhealthiness is probably a better way to go though. You can make it work out the same financially, but it just goes down easier and seems less draconian. Fees just piss Americans off in general, no matter how small or just.
That’s a good point. I’ve noticed that some insurers give healthiness discounts which would be great. I guess when your healthcare is totally free, perhaps incentives are more difficult. Maybe employees who are healthy could get some money back at the end of the year or something. As a person who pays a boatload for employee contributions to healthcare, I guess I have a hard time feeling bad about 25 dollars a month.