weird idea ive pondered

[Matt Vassallo]

so i've had this thought for a really long time.


we have like, medicare for old people.

medicaid for like, underprivileged / low income people.


We should totally have like, Medistrong or something, for physically fit, active, healthy individuals who can pass a simple physical fitness test, have proper blood sugar, good blood pressure and cholesterol levels.. kind of like a basic screening..

A cheap way to get affordable health insurance. By maintaining a healthy lifestyle and requiring people to do their part by eating right, being active, I want to think that alot of the common medical problems (adult onset diabetes / chronic obeisity and all the plethora of health problems it causes) can be circumvented.

Does this sound too crazily out of wack? does this seem impossible to do ? Seriously? How hard is it to do a physical fitness assessment? I'm sure you could do it in the time that it takes usually to stand in line and get some papers filled out at the tax office or something.

As someone who doesn't have any health insurance, i'm always thinking about ways that i could make it happen. In a perfect world, you know.

Healthy, strong, diet-smart, fit people should get a break too, once in a while. I mean shoot. I can barely afford $30 a month for my gym membership and routinely run out of nitrean and other stuff because it's expensive.. all of this stuff that keeps me healthy should be taken into account or something and have a "lower risk" insurance plan be available, or something.

And could you imagine? America , here's your universal health care plan. Get in shape, and you qualify for it... i would see heart disease, smoking,going away.

non smoker?
5k in under 30:00?
50 pushups?
50 situps?
good blood pressure?
good blood work ? (cholesterol , triglycerides , iron etc)
Bodyfat percentage and BMI reasonable?

You qualify for MediFit (Medistrong), the United States health insurance plan designed specifically for fit individuals.



only in my dreams, i guess.

[Banksy]

The only thing I see that kind of contradicts it is that old people are, well they're old, and the people who can't afford it aren't usually in the greatest health; lastly, you'd have the physically healthy.

[:jen:]

I don't think you're too far-fetched with this idea.

It would actually be very beneficial in two ways. One, obviously it will be less of a risk/cost for the gov't to take on, because you'd be exercising preventive care.

And it would also motivate people to get healthy.

For those who have no insurance, it'd be pretty neat.

But as far as those who have medical insurance, this is kind of already going on. I know with most insurance companies, you can get gym reimbursement, and your coverage is cheaper if you're a non-smoker, etc.

[Regina]

Heck yeah. Bring it on!

[MianoSM]

I don't understand why a healthy person would need health care.

It also seems like what your doing is hoping for socialized medicine, which I'm all for anyway though - so if you start up a petition let me know I'd sign it.

If you really want to make this a reality the best way to go about it would be to set up a website (doesn't have to be anything crazy or huge). Just outline your idea, put together some basic notes about what would be covered/how it would be covered, etc...

Then enable digital signing of your on-line petition, and when you feel that you have a decent amount of signatures notify a representative for the state of Florida and lobby for it! Senators love this kind of stuff. = )

[Matt Vassallo]

I don't understand why a healthy person would need health care.

It also seems like what your doing is hoping for socialized medicine, which I'm all for anyway though - so if you start up a petition let me know I'd sign it.

If you really want to make this a reality the best way to go about it would be to set up a website (doesn't have to be anything crazy or huge). Just outline your idea, put together some basic notes about what would be covered/how it would be covered, etc...

Then enable digital signing of your on-line petition, and when you feel that you have a decent amount of signatures notify a representative for the state of Florida and lobby for it! Senators love this kind of stuff. = )


Because in 2006 i was informed that i had a benign tumor that given my family's history, could have become malignant. health insurance helps pay for surgery.

[oh1coupe]

seems like health insurance companies would be willing to do this without the governments interfearince

[Regina]

Yeah, just because you are healthy by taking care of your body and eating right doesn't mean you can always prevent hereditary disease, etc. What about that Olympic runner that had a heart attack?

[BUDO]

Nice idea, but there are an innumerable amount of health insurance companies that already offer kickbacks, bonuses and lower deductibles for being healthy. A problem with the medifit program is that the insurance industry would be taking a total gamble lowering insurance for seemingly healthy people, while on the other hand it is a win win situation dealing with people that are likely to become sick. They just charge more in anticipation of sickness. Like just about everyone has posted you can be healthy and still get sick, so why would the govt/insurance business shoot themselves in the foot???

Further adding to it, what about those predisposed to hereditary illnesses? Technically they shouldn't qualify as being "healthy" despite their efforts due to the fact that they are a high risk. All people can get sick, but not all people can be healthy and thus the idea would discriminate.

Don't get me wrong I am not defending the health care market, just logically analyzing this.

[s10_male24]

Because in 2006 i was informed that i had a benign tumor that given my family's history, could have become malignant. health insurance helps pay for surgery.

Me 2- only 24 rack up over 500k in medical bills. Everyone needs its, just hope you never have to use it.

[Matt Vassallo]

Yeah, just because you are healthy by taking care of your body and eating right doesn't mean you can always prevent hereditary disease, etc. What about that Olympic runner that had a heart attack?



you and budo arae right. there are always the 'what about' scenarios. you can think up any scenario.


But a person who is physically fit and active at least 4 times a week i would say is much less risk by all means than a person who is a cough potato with a high BMI that is not miscalculated due to an obscenely low bodyfat percentage.

Both the lardo and the runner *could* have bad family history, etc etc etc. So i mean, that really doesn't matter.

but in most situations, if you were to ask people in the health industry who they would rather be giving healthy advice or being a doctor responsible for, they would pick the person with the healthy lifestyle as less risk over the person on their way to type 2 diabetes at age 28.

take my familhyf or example. i've run out of fingers to count the family members that have died of cancer. But by eating healthy, staying active, i am making my immune system stronger, and making sure i get as many anti oxidants as possible that have shown *MAY* have an effect on fighting cancer causing free radicals.

yeah, it's a long shot, but hey, it's better than turning away and crying about it, you know?

The big thing is, if more people were active, and living healthier lives, i think this country would be alot better off. i mean shoot, even at the most rudimentary level, a good amount of exercise is very healthy for the mind. i wish i would have learned this earlier in my life.

[TrackStar]

HERE IS THE #1 PROBLEM WITH THIS IDEA...

Athletes, believe it or not, are actually high risk in terms of health care... Why? They do high risk activities. Athletes don't have health problems generally, they have injuries.