[quote=TemekuT]My heart goes out to both of you – BG and CardiffBaseball. I have the same situation with my beloved baby sis, who has always been vigilant about diet, weight, exercise. She was diagnosed with stage IV cancer 2 years ago at age 47 and is fighting with all she’s got. Thankfully, when she was struggling financially in the prior 2 years, she did not cancel her PPO and now has many care choices and can be selective about her treatments. I believe my sis will benefit from Obamacare and I am fine with helping her and others similarly stricken.
On the other hand, I will now have to contribute to relatives, acquaintances, and strangers’ future medical costs due to their laziness, lack of discipline and bad choices. I have some relatives that take cholesterol meds and blood pressure meds, but indulge almost daily in bacon, egg, and donut breakfasts. I get to watch as the metabolic syndrome they obviously have transforms into diabetes. They regularly circle around parking lots to get the spot closest to the restaurant door, where they consume pizza or fried chicken, followed by sugary and fatty desserts. They have packed on the pounds around their middles, and it’s not attractive being 50 lbs overweight.
Now my sis, that’s just genetic bad luck, but I do resent paying for others’ preventable conditions.
BG – I also have an individual AETNA PPO and received the letter, and am confused about what to do. I take great care of myself, with a very healthy diet and lots of exercise. I am slim, and have no conditions at 55+. It’s not always fun to haul myself out of bed early like I did this morning, walk a few miles, and then breakfast on oatmeal, but I do it because I want to be a healthy oldster.[/quote]
TemkuT – you have a point, but you do not extend it far enough. There are very few bad things that happen to us that are completely out of our control. Genetic illnesses (including some forms of cancer) and being killed by a meteorite are a few. But let the person who never speeds, who never drinks, who manages their stress well, who stays out of dangerous situations cast the first stone.
There are some who would argue that quick cooking oatmeal (not instant – rolled) for breakfast is not the best choice in terms of it’s glycemic index. I ate it for years (and grape nuts) thinking these were very healthy (now I eat Old Fashioned Oats or eggs). Maybe these choices will end up harming me and costing you money (you seem to have an issue with eggs. . . .) But my guess is that you wouldn’t be resentful because my heart was in the right place. Does that make sense? Here’s another example – a friend of mine had a patient that almost died of liver failure due to some herbal tea she drank for a few months. That was a terrible choice – but probably her level of intelligence played into it (not smart to eat something from an unregulated source). The intelligence of our choices is largely influenced by our intelligence, which is largely genetic.
I feel like food morality is becoming the new religion. Obesity is indeed a problem – I thank my lucky stars that I have managed to avoid it. I know the food industry plays a part – but I’m not sure we know what the answer is. For years people thought ulcers were caused by stress alone. Now we know that they are caused by a bacterial infection. There is some evidence that gut bacteria play a part in obesity. Maybe all of our antimicrobial efforts are coming back to haunt us . . . .
