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Jacob Sullum digests what happens when the morbidly obese surrender responsibility to the pleasantly plump.
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|7.23.04 @ 6:19AM|#
How about no government medical insurance at all. That's the way to save taxpayer money. Duh.
|7.25.04 @ 1:15AM|#
The article details a pragmatic, assets-vs.-liabilty analysis of obesity "treatment". The underlying principle of assisting the obese in reversing a condition that they created through sheer indulgence and sloth, however, is anti-libertarian. Besides, the average cost of gastic bypass surgery is $25,000. The price of a weight-loss drug can be over $100 a month. If government-funded insurance really, really must help these fat bastards, why not just purchase a decent pair of New Balance?
On a related, disturbing note: The IRS now allows individuals to write off stomach-stapling surgery. Why then can I not write off the $2000 that I spend a year on gym memberships, running shoes, martial arts training, and bicycling?
|7.25.04 @ 2:32AM|#
Genna,
You can't write off gym memberships, running shoes, etc. because there is no well-financed, well focused lobbying group working the congressional asiles on your behalf. On the other hand, the AMA lobbys congress to allow people to write off medical procedures. This benefits AMA members, since it presumably increases the amount of AMA member's services demanded by the public. As always, we have the best government money can buy.
|7.26.04 @ 12:07PM|#
Genna, I keep trim by riding horses. If there was a ride-off for my sporting life... ah... thousands, thousands and thousands of dollars! Image what you yachtsmen could save.
Can I just get my thin-woman tax credit? Can I nark out my over-eating diabetic relatives for cash