Posted by
Catmman on Monday, July 27, 2009 12:42:56 PM
The
Dems can't get support for their supposed health care "savings" since there aren't any. In fact, it will cost
MORE money (
so says the CBO). No one from the Left has still answered the question about how spending $1 trillion is supposed to save money, but I'm no economist so maybe I'm just not "getting it."
Anyway, now the Dems are trying to tell you that "health and wellness programs" will have "benefits and save money".
Bullshinola.
When I entered the military back in 1987 there was no such thing as health and wellness. Over the past decade though the DoD has spent millions of dollars on such programs, in fact setting up so-called "Health and Wellness Centers" at military bases worldwide. These HAWCS are staffed with nutritionists, therapists, consultants, etc. These centers have no real "doctors" (not medical doctors anyway). Their mission is to give classes, provide counseling, and information for nutrition, exercise, etc. They also give body mass index readings and other types of stuff. Sometimes they have special exercise classes (like "spin classes"), yoga classes, etc, things you would expect to get from a fitness club staff. They also give classes on smoking cessation, drug and alcohol awareness, etc. Basically, it's an offshoot of "the gym". Remember, no real doctors work at these centers. Remember the DoD spends millions of dollars on these centers every year.
Their mission is to "advise" and "instruct". They give classes on how to eat right, but can't make you. They give smoking cessation classes, even providing stop-smoking patches, etc. How's that working? The military, as a cross section of society, has more smokers on average than the general populace; I think the statistic is over 30% of active duty military folks smoke. When a military person gets a "referral" to the HAWC it's treated as a joke - it is a joke. HAWCs by and large are wasteful, redundant mechanisms. So what's the point?
Because someone fell for the almost pseudo-science of "health and wellness" and "prevention". On the surface this makes sense. If you eat right there is less of a chance of getting fat and having to deal with the associated health problems which could arise. If you don't look past the generalities, it makes sense. The problem is I should be hearing this from my doctor, not a "fitness consultant". In fact I do hear this from my doctor, every time I go for a checkup or physical. So why do we have those "fitness consultants" again? Why is the government spending twice the money for half the desired result? That's the big elephant in the room, isn't it?
Personally, if a "fitness consultant" tells me to eat right it goes in one ear and out the other. If my doctor tells me to eat right, ties that to some problem I have at the moment, or ties it to how I might develop a problem later (since my doctor knows my medical history) I will be more inclined to take his advice, not the "consultant's".
Let's be frank. In this day and age if you don't know that you can't eat all manner of fatty, processed foods, drink every soda on the shelf, stuff your face with twinkies, then not get out of the chair, put the TV remote down and get some exercise, that this type of behavior is bad for you, then you deserve to be hit in the head with a tack hammer. Or suffer that massive coronary. Whatever.
If your family has a history of heart disease, then there is a better chance you might develop it and need to eat right, exercise a bit more and see your doctor, not a "consultant". If you get sick and it doesn't get better after a week or so with over-the-counter meds, then you need to see a doctor, not a "consultant". There's your "health and wellness" advice, free of charge.
Also: "Prevention" is the term for using a bit of common sense before you do stuff so you don't hurt yourself. In other words, if you are walking through your neighborhood and see a swimming pool full of pirahna, don't jump in. There, you prevented your death.
We don't need a government bureaucracy separate from your doctor to tell you to eat right. If you want that, pay for a fitness club membership on your own. But that is what "health and wellness" is - it's code for spending more money, separate from your doctor, to tell you stuff you already know. One more thing, if you don't think the government won't begin to mandate such "healthy behaviors", if you don't think that under a government health care plan not "living healthy" won't be used as justification to deny you care, your kidding yourself.
"Health and wellness" is the key to unlock that particular Pandora's Box.