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Comment by Out_of_Characte | Hacker News Reader

You simply can't fix systemic health issues with a pill, shot or a multivitamin. obesity correlates with higher covid mortality and this article mentions quite clearly that alaskan life expectancy decreased despite succesfull vaccinations. Worse yet, obesity seems to be increasing rather than decreasing so whatever any politician, healthcare service or advocacy group has done the past 20 years, the USA is still not closer to a solution to the lowering life expectancy. Covid might be over but there will always be a next crisis.

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The US obesity rate is over 40%!

https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html

Believe it or not, weight loss (nutritionists, prescriptions, etc) isn't covered by health insurance when the patient doesn't have heart disease or diabetes. Insurance companies aren't gonna treat obesity itself as a disease.

I think people need to realize that health insurance has fuck all to do with holistic health care. Nobody is looking out for you most of the time. You need to be on top of your health.

Insurance companies do cover some holistic health care: they cover preventative annuals, bloodworks, et al. The fact of the matter is, obesity isn't considered a healthcare concern to treat on a system manner. It's not like a fat person can discipline themselves out of a fatness they didn't exactly discipline themselves into. Lots of obese people are uneducated and poor who cannot afford the time or energy to cook. Where's the free gym memberships, free nutritionists, government-subsidized HelloFresh or some other healthy meal delivery?

If obesity is the problem on a societal level, we're certainly not treating weight loss like a solution.

> Covid might be over but…

How is it over?

We all got it and realized it's a cold?

No. Over 4M people in the US are out of the workforce because of long Covid. The death rate from Covid this year is on pace to be a multiple of average flu deaths.

Sure, and over time this will lessen as it has for almost all novel diseases, whether it be Covid, the new flu variant, or smallpox

>You simply can't fix systemic health issues with a pill, shot or a multivitamin.

I feel like this is the biggest impediment to universal healthcare in the usa. When much of the developed world implemented it, around late 1960s. You had fully recovered from debt of WW2, working economies producing lots and the cost of healthcare was low.

Today in universal healthcare systems you are seeing much if not all of them reducing. For example, https://ca.news.yahoo.com/5-changes-to-ohip-now-in-effect-20...

It goes without saying as well that most shots, pills, or multivitamins are not covered at all. How about the myriad of problems that simply aren't solveable.

>obesity correlates with higher covid mortality and this article mentions quite clearly that alaskan life expectancy decreased despite succesfull vaccinations.

With obesity comes diabetes and uncurable disease. The medicine for which is not covered in most countries and not to mention has gotten very expensive. https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/reports-publ...

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diet-for-type2-diabetes.html

If you went to a grocery store or restaurant the probability that it's full of sugar/carbs is extremely high. If suddenly tomorrow everyone switches off sugar/carbs, we would have immense food shortages. So we can't really encourage people to switch off carbs.

>Worse yet, obesity seems to be increasing rather than decreasing so whatever any politician, healthcare service or advocacy group has done the past 20 years, the USA is still not closer to a solution to the lowering life expectancy. Covid might be over but there will always be a next crisis.

Don't say all/any.

https://globalfoodresearchprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/202...

Newfoundland's very popular liberal government implemented a sugar tax recently.

I think it's a great idea and those who do it first will benefit in the long run. Flipside, I don't think government should be allowed to do anything with food. No restricting, no taxing, your extent is only in the 'everyone agrees with' category. Food inspectors for example? We can all agree that's important.

>I feel like this is the biggest impediment to universal healthcare in the usa, When much of the developed world implemented it. ...and the cost of healthcare was low. I'm not sure what you mean. systemic health issues, like obesity, wouldn't be better off under universal health care because I would end up paying for the other 40%. Which is entirely ""preventable"" whatever that means in todays society where no one actually prevents it.

as to what you mean when you say "When most of the developed world implemented it" I'm not sure we have the same classification of 'universal health care'

For me, based in the Netherlands, I wouldn't classify our system as universal health care at all. There is a tax for health insurance but it doesn't cover anything that any america, brit or canadian would call universal health care. The government negotiates a minimum package that all insurers need to provide which sets you back 120 euro's a year. for lower income, the government will give a tax break up to 110 euro's a year. Companies are also paying for health care and only whats left after that is paid by the governement. However when you require certain healthcare services, you pay the first 385 euro's out of your own pocket. This is on a yearly basis and is never covered by anyone but yourself. anything above that is fully covered and paid for. though there are lots of exeptions. You wont have to pay consultants, vaccinations and other commons. You'll still get the receipt sent to your adress so there's quite alot of price transparency going around. I remember hospitals billing me for over 4000 euro's of various services and procedures all neatly organised but ofcourse this only set me back 385 euro's. Denmark and other neighbours have similar setups that look like universal health care but are far from it, compared to canada or britain. And I wouldn't change the dutch system ever because Its simply the best functioning healthcare system of the world.

>If suddenly tomorrow everyone switches off sugar/carbs, we would have immense food shortages If everyone would bike to work tomorrow everyone except the Netherlands would have a bike shortage.

Don't say all/any. Vice versa But really, Find me any state which recorded lower obesity than @previous-year

>Newfoundland's very popular liberal government implemented a sugar tax recently. Its great that you're optimistic about this policy and I'm always quite positive of the future but obesity is one I'm simply not seeing any signs of anything that would have a chance of improving any situation. Coca cola zero sugar is the prime example of the only solution that people would be willing to accept even though their drink still spikes blood sugar and the correct step is to never buy softdrinks again. a sugar tax is only going to weigh more on the impoverished.

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