tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1631197867227683926.post2704269005410157299..comments2023-08-02T10:54:42.975-05:00Comments on Pygmy Puffs and Heffalumps: Defending MyselfZanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410069721111246797noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1631197867227683926.post-13026905191182161762009-09-21T12:29:53.504-05:002009-09-21T12:29:53.504-05:00Allen,
Welcome to my blog! 8-)
I'm blessed ...Allen,<br /><br />Welcome to my blog! 8-)<br /><br />I'm blessed right now to have a job with insurance. But I also am considered a "state employee" and we in Alabama are always looking in dread to the next set of pink slips.<br /><br />I've had folks look at me askance when I've revealed my diabetes, and one person even said "did you lose a lot of weight?" ARGH! So what the numbskulls in politics and the insurance companies have said in their "statements" is now being taken as truth by many Average Joes. And that's a scary thought.Zanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02410069721111246797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1631197867227683926.post-59728813815885651542009-09-18T10:53:09.408-05:002009-09-18T10:53:09.408-05:00Oh! Forgot to mention, I love your avatar!!!Oh! Forgot to mention, I love your avatar!!!Allen Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00853861649876959271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1631197867227683926.post-54528729834175059912009-09-18T10:52:23.136-05:002009-09-18T10:52:23.136-05:00Hi, Zana!
I am new to your blog - you can thank y...Hi, Zana!<br /><br />I am new to your blog - you can thank your colleague Chris Johnson of MCJ for this. <br /><br />This post interests me because I am in somewhat the same situation you are. I do not know if you have any health insurance (I don't; long story), but I can certainly relate to the <em>chronic illness is caused by bad lifestyle choices"</em> debate.<br /><br />I was born with a severe cleft pallete and hare lip. Fortunately most of those problems have been corrected through plastic surgery. But I still have problems with my hearing and sinuses which have nothing to do with lifestyle choices. I do try to avoid thing in my diet which exacerbate my sinus condition, but much of the problem is caused by things outside o my control - air pollution for one; institutional air conditioning for another. <br /><br />So these self-righteous <em>"it's all your damn fault that we can't have low-cost health care"</em> statements just drive me up the wall. Especially when they are made by politicians and health insurance companies which are major parts of the problem. <br /><br />Yeah, just blame the consumers. That is an easy out.<br /><br />Sheesh!Allen Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00853861649876959271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1631197867227683926.post-37511542379793338562009-09-14T09:30:18.816-05:002009-09-14T09:30:18.816-05:00I understand what you say completely, and I agree....I understand what you say completely, and I agree. What concerns me are when, say, companies like Blue Cross Blue Shield can issue statements like the one I quoted, and NEVER say anything about that 25% you mention. It worries me that some of the ideas I've seen floated call for a health surcharge on folks with diabetes, or whatever, unless they "change their lifestyle". But they never seem to consider/acknowledge those whose illness isn't a lifestyle problem.Zanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02410069721111246797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1631197867227683926.post-65118869081036120532009-09-11T20:53:29.160-05:002009-09-11T20:53:29.160-05:00I have been following the health care reform debat...I have been following the health care reform debates a little, and had not heard anyone talking about the effect of the American lifestyle on health care costs. Actually, I think many of the people you quote are quite correct; much disease (chronic or acute) is preventable. Of course, you're also correct that not ALL chronic disease is preventable, and it's likely that far more than 1% is due to factors out of our control. There has actually been a good bit of research into this. According to the research, about 90% of type II diabetes in the US is preventable, about 80% of heart disease, and about 50% of cancer. Because these are all common diseases, and the same behaviors tend to prevent all of them, there is the potential to drastically reduce chronic disease with relatively minor lifestyle changes. But by drastically I mean somewhere in the neighborhood of 75%, not anywhere near 99%. As far as I know, your three are not particularly preventable, though. I can understand your frustration. But just think how much more research money could be spent on trying to cure diseases that CAN'T be prevented if we weren't spending so much on common but preventable ones.JAGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12970121903178454202noreply@blogger.com