My health insurance has already skyrocketed as a direct result of NOT affordable healthcare. This will drive millions of more Americans onto the coattails of the federal government.

Just what Obama, via George Soros, his largest donor, wants.

How is affordable healthcare going over in N. Korea?

The cost of healthcare is going up for two reasons MOST Americans don’t want to admit to; Americans are unhealthy and health care is more about illness than health. Even insured individuals rarely use their medical insurance they pay for unless they’re sick. The key to the cost of helathcare going down is for Americans to make healthier choices (because government can’t FORCE us to put down that burger, fries, and super sized coke) and for more coverage for prevention and wellness to become the rule rather than the exception. Maybe a structured rate scale with lower premiums for those that manage their health (regular check ups, fitness programs, etc) might be a good start. The problem is that even those with insurance neglect their health until you’re looking at serious and EXPENSIVE care needs! But, you can’t win to lose. Nobody likes being TOLD by their insurance company how to live their life (that’s socialism!), what to smoke (that’s socialism!), or what to eat (that’s socialism!), but then we gripe and want to blame Obamacare for the fact that health care costs because WE are not a healthy nation. “I’m a 300 pound diabetic asthmatic cardiac patient on MediCal who requires multiple hospital visits a month, but damned if the government is going to tell me how to live my life”. In the auto industry, we call the person uninsurable.

In a related story, obesity rates are expected to rise sharply in Colorado and Washington. lol

7-11 announced plans for 40 new stores just in the Denver Metro Area. LOL

Geoff-you cannot blame government for how people eat. Everything boils down to choices. You chose to grocery shop or you chose to go to McHeavy’s. You can’t blame that on farm subsidies. Government COULD act to promote healthier lifestyles such as zoning laws pertaining to fast food to supermarket ratios and sugar taxes, but the question is should they? There needs to be a balance between government action and taking responsibility and deciding where government intervention is appropriate. The spiralling cost of healthcare is a compelling government concern. When taxpayers end up footing the bill for people’s poor health decisions, that effects us all; its not an issolated choice when all of us, taxpayers and insurance rate payers, have to pay for the expenses of an unhealthy population. In my opinion, mandating and regulating behavior becomes necessary when one’s individual actions affect the broader population.
However, what has occured over time is government playing nanny, there has been an overall dumbing down of the population. People just ‘obey the government’ without thinking for themselves. The result? A lot of people who can’t make decisions for themselves! The goal of any parent should be to raise a son or daughter to be able to eventually keep their own counsel and not rely on mom and dad for advise and stuff. The consequences of government intervention is that it fosters a relationship with government of the ‘parent’ always making the decision for us and just handing us the goods. The goals should be to EDUCATE people on healthy living and leave it to them to make the decision. Not just that, but taxing certain habits doesn’t work. Tobacco, alcohol, and sugar have what is called price elasticity. If consumption of these items is habitual, people will neglect other needs in order to get their fix. A person, as I’ve seen, can live a crawl away from a supermarket, but still eat three days out of the week at McHeavy’s. Food stamps can be used to buy junk just the same. Americans CHOSE what to shove in their mouth. The only thing I think government COULD do to facilitate healthy lifestyles is bring back Home Economics in school and require 4 full HS years of PE.