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.
