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originally posted by: Aazadan
a reply to: toolgal462
It costs less money in the long run to do yearly checkups and get people into doctors offices early and often.
originally posted by: carewemust
How do you make Americans eat better and exercise more?
1. Company pays the tab for your lunch if you eat a salad and drink something that's lower in calories. Alternatively, gives you a longer lunch break. Reimburse the company with a tax cut.
2. Remove taxes on foods like fruits and vegetables. Add taxes on sugary junk food.
3. Mandatory posting of calories of all restaurant menu items (in many states, including Ohio this isn't required and is rarely done).
4. Bike lanes on roads.
5. Encourage biking... hydration stations on busy streets, better traffic laws, incentives for buying and using a bicycle, etc...
Maybe I can come up with more in the morning.
originally posted by: TheRedneck
That's something the companies need to work on. It would be hard to get them to do anything in today's economy but if we could get unemployment actually low enough so companies started competing for employees, something like that could take off without tax subsidies paying for it.
Generally, I don't like the idea of using taxes to control behavior. Taxes should be fair, and that kinda tosses fairness out of the window. Laws control social behavior; taxes pay the bills.
Already being done in many cities, and both impractical and unneeded outside of cities.
Maybe a public education push about the health benefits and cost savings of biking?
Any change this big is going to come in stages. I even mentioned, I think on the first page, that this is not an all-inclusive plan. It is a framework to work from. We set up the framework and tweak it the next year... adjust it the following year... add a few restrictions as we find loopholes... that sort of thing. The part I am really interested in is clarifying that insurance is an option, not a mandate; healthcare should not be denied based on social status; medical professionals deserve to be paid; people have to be held responsible for their own choices, where possible.
originally posted by: TheRedneck
I am fed up with listening to idiots trying to drum up support or demonize these silly healthcare proposals. Not a single one fixes things. Not one. Not Obamacare, which made things worse, not the House plan which could be described as Obamacare lite without teeth, and not the Senate bill which is Obamacare with sprinkles.
originally posted by: AMPTAH
There's only one plan that works. Canada has it. Copy Canada.
The problem with that, is that lots of people don't like to eat healthy.
Taxes have effectively shaped behavior before though.
It depends. My town is small enough that I could ride a bike around town, but there's no sidewalks to ride on, and no median I can ride in.
Access to health care is a big part of things, but it's still only a part. I think some measures can be taken to encourage public health care that reduces medical costs over a persons life. A little bit of exercise and better eating could go a long way towards people needing fewer doctors appointments.
originally posted by: Phoenix
When cutting down or eliminating carbs I found savings on prepared, boxed and junk food more than made up for extra costs on meat, real dairy and fresh vegetables.
Ive also replaced all vegetable based oils with animal based to cut inflammation and it's associated issues with heart disease and arteriosclerosis.