Obesity costs the U.S. $147 Billion a year

[solidus86]

possible repost

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/...fobesity_N.htm

WASHINGTON ? Obese Americans ? those who are 30 or more pounds over a healthy weight ? cost the country an estimated $147 billion in weight-related medical bills in 2008, double what it was a decade ago, a new study shows.
Overall, an obese patient has $4,871 in medical bills a year compared with $3,442 for a patient at a healthy weight.

The findings are from a statistical analysis released here Monday at a government meeting convened to discuss ways to reduce obesity and inactivity by changing the environment.

The meeting, called Weight of the Nation, is sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The total cost of treating obesity has increased dramatically because more people are obese, says lead researcher Eric Finkelstein, a health economist with RTI International, a non-profit think tank in Raleigh, N.C.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | Emory University | Robert Wood Johnson Foundation | Tax
About 34% of adults ? more than 72 million ? in the USA were obese in 2006, up from 23% in 1994, according to government data. Two-thirds of people in this county are overweight or obese. Obesity increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, several types of cancer and other diseases.

"If you really want to rein in health-care dollars, you have to get people dieting, exercising and living a healthier lifestyle," Finkelstein says. "Otherwise somebody is going to be paying for treating these weight-related illnesses, either the government or employers."

For the study, Finkelstein and other obesity experts analyzed medical expenditure data, including direct medical costs related to extra weight, such as prescription medications, visits to doctors' offices and other outpatient and inpatient (hospital) services ? but not indirect costs such as time off work.

The costs attributable to obesity are almost entirely generated from treating the diseases that obesity promotes, such as heart disease and diabetes, Finkelstein says. Findings:

?Obesity now accounts for 9.1% of all medical spending, up from 6.5% in 1998.

?Taxpayers picked up about half the $147 billion tab in 2008 through Medicare and Medicaid.

?Obese patients on Medicare spent about $600 a year more in prescription medications than patients at a healthy weight.

The results are being published online in Health Affairs.

"Obesity is not a problem that is going to respond to a silver bullet or single solution," says William Dietz, director of the CDC's Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity. "Comprehensive policy and environmental changes are needed, such as improved vending machine choices in schools, access to healthful foods and opportunities for physical activity for inner-city populations and employer efforts to improve employee wellness."

Kenneth Thorpe, a professor of health policy at Emory University in Atlanta, who has also studied the medical costs of obesity, agrees. "Obesity is the biggest single reason why health-care costs are rising. We can save lives and money through lifestyle interventions."

[TimDF]

in b4 the big gut forums.

[Monkey Helmet]

$3,400 a year for a healthy person? What the hell are people doing to themselves to spend that much a year?

[davecassin]

Originally Posted by Monkey Helmet

$3,400 a year for a healthy person? What the hell are people doing to themselves to spend that much a year?

I think thats a lifetime average...

..add in big surgeries and accidents, I can see it.

[Monkey Helmet]

Originally Posted by davecassin

I think thats a lifetime average...

..add in big surgeries and accidents, I can see it.

Ah, makes sense.

[Hat_Monster]

Holy shyat.

[Frannycakes]

Originally Posted by davecassin

I think thats a lifetime average...

..add in big surgeries and accidents, I can see it.

It says a year brah

"Overall, an obese patient has $4,871 in medical bills a year compared with $3,442 for a patient at a healthy weight"

[CementPizza]

I personally account for about 1/2 of those dollars.

[thgonace]

cool now do smoking

[s7ev]

how much money are they putting into america though?

**** loads cos of all the fastfood they eat~ ~ ~

[Teenytinyboo]

American food tastes so dam good, I'd think fukk it and be a mega fatty as well if lived in the states for sure.

[thorton]

Originally Posted by Frannycakes

It says a year brah

"Overall, an obese patient has $4,871 in medical bills a year compared with $3,442 for a patient at a healthy weight"

Averaged out.

Lady who needs a kidney transplant + all other medical expense can push 1mil in fees. That means 300 people can not go to the hospital yet the average will be 3kish across the board

[thefast]

Yah but they put 148 billion dollars a year into Mcdonalds so it all evens out

[Frannycakes]

Originally Posted by thorton

Averaged out.

Lady who needs a kidney transplant + all other medical expense can push 1mil in fees. That means 300 people can not go to the hospital yet the average will be 3kish across the board

Yeah thats what I figured, but the guy I quoted thought it was an average over the span of a lifetime.

[big stud steve]

i think it should be ILLEGAL to sell certain foods to obese people..


there should be an exception for people with a reason (powerlifters etc..)

[marmadogg]

Originally Posted by Monkey Helmet

$3,400 a year for a healthy person? What the hell are people doing to themselves to spend that much a year?

Originally Posted by davecassin

I think thats a lifetime average...

..add in big surgeries and accidents, I can see it.

Originally Posted by Frannycakes

It says a year brah

"Overall, an obese patient has $4,871 in medical bills a year compared with $3,442 for a patient at a healthy weight"

Originally Posted by big stud steve

i think it should be ILLEGAL to sell certain foods to obese people..


there should be an exception for people with a reason (powerlifters etc..)

Health insurance premiums should be based on bodyfat percentage.