Fat Alabama Workers

[WriterDom]

The lottery is a little wrong in my opinion. The people that play most often are the ones who can least afford it. Some kids probably go hungry because daddy bought too many scratch offs. And the big payoffs, well I read once you have a greater chance of dying in a car on the way than winning. And I've heard lots of stories of poor people who did win millions and squandered it all away in a couple of years.

I play about twice a year if it gets really high just to amuse myself. Never won a damn thing. Rarely even get one number.

 

[intothewoods]

It's not just reprogramming. Real food is much more costly than crap food, unless you are very vigilant about it. Very few people have the time to be that vigilant, make friends with bulk lentils and frozen veggies and still make something that's remotely appealing to eat.

It's a lot harder to eat right when NO ONE IN YOUR FAMILY EVER has done it and you have food stamp income and bigger worries.

Hell, it's not even food stamp income. Most people don't embrace the frozen veggies on a night when boiling water feels like effort because you're working so much. Not everyone has the option of buying the four dollar Kashi frozen dinners for those moments.

It's a complete de-programming of the entire culinary culture of this whole country, which is THAT unhealthy.

A lot to ask from most people.

The 25 bucks aren't going to matter to the fat division heads who are having steak lunches, but they ARE going to matter to the fat admin who's fat because her food is a fast drive-through run while she patches together single mom insanity schedule. A lot.

I didn't mean to sound flip. It is going to take a cultural change, but a lot of little changes could be made along the way. Mister Man was totally brought up in that household, and I work with a lot of people who know no other way to eat too. I don't mean to sound like I taught my boyfriend a few recipes and figured it all out, but I just don't think it's massive government intervention or nothing.

 

[FurryFury]

I think it's crap to set up a society that pushes a way of life that leads to obesity and then penalizes for it.

 

[rinka]

How about higher premiums for anyone who has more than one sex partner?

Or Jews, because we might pop out a Tay Sachs baby?

Or anyone who has a sportscar.

Or anyone who fits the profile of potential gunshot victim and lives in a neighborhood we just wrote off?


Or how about having a health care system like the civilized world and actually giving a minimal fuck about human life, not just embryonic?

Brilliantly expressed

What I find outrageous in this is this singling out a certain group to legally discriminate. Drinking, smoking, chronic depression... a lot of factors affect your health. This one is just more visible.

And yes, in Sweden we have general healthcare for everyone. The system is certainly not perfect, but the idea is that it's supposed to be equally good or crappy for everyone. The healthcare available is for anyone who needs it, no matter your social status or lifestyle.

I gladly pay tax for that.

 

[00Syd]

F'real.

Would you really mind paying for everyone else's healthcare if everyone else payed for yours?

Would sure be nice to live somewhere where people weren't forced to wait until their children are so sick they can barely walk in order to take them to the emergency room because they can't afford health insurance.

My mother was recently fired from her job because she developed a pinched nerve in her back and can no longer work the hours required of her. Our health insurance was subsidized by her work but now we have to pay it all, and with me in school, we aren't sure if we can afford it. Now, she should be getting this Long Term Disability insurance, but has been having this back and forth with the insurance company for the last few months about it, with no money coming in in the meantime.

Would sure help to not have to pay for health insurance.

 

[Netzach]

2. Am I the only one that sees the irony of preserving free healh insurance for overwight state employees..at the expense of taxpayers..many of whom can't afford health isurance themselves?

Everyone has access to basic and catastrophic coverage and help with meds, if not full coverage for meds. I know it sounds like fantasyland, but that's because the insistence it CAN"T BE DONE keeps so many people so rich.

No irony. Everyone's paying in. The guy with the sports injury may have to wait a little longer for his MRI if the woman who's gut is going to explode needs looked at first, but so it goes. I'm talking to enough people with a lifelong chronic debilitating condition that doesn't necessarily kill you, in other countries and no one's dying on the steps of the clinic. Not me, not them. Only I'm never going to catch up fiscally from it, maybe when I'm 50 or something if I'm lucky and don't flare up again a lot.

 

[Netzach]

I gladly pay tax for that.

That's the thing people don't get here. You don't just pay in and pay in like you do here and get nothing back, which IS the reality for a lot of us. A lot of us hate taxation because we personally see little tangible benefit. I used to be able to say "at least the roads function and at least the water is safe" but even THOSE things are up in the air because so MANY people are saying "damned if I'M paying in!" and voting along those lines. So many people can't even fathom a system in which everyone pays in enough so that everyone sees benefit.

 

[Netzach]

F'real.

Would you really mind paying for everyone else's healthcare if everyone else payed for yours?

Would sure be nice to live somewhere where people weren't forced to wait until their children are so sick they can barely walk in order to take them to the emergency room because they can't afford health insurance.

Epecially when you are about to bust an appendix and now you have a 3 hour wait because these people can't go in for a normal appointment, the only time they will BE seen is if it's an emergency.

 

[subbie_333]

Being fat in Alabama now costs extra


Not sure I agree with this. I think it would be more effective to reward workers who lost weight.

<grumpy>

OK, let me get a few things straight:

We are talking about state employees. um, some people don't have *any* job at all

We are talking about people who have insurance. um, some people don't have *any* insurance at all, most of those because they can't afford it

We may be talking about people whose insurance is better than other people's insurance. Do we know? Why don't we know? um, is Alabama hiding something?

We are talking about people who are getting their insurance FOR FREE. um, not very common i think.

We are talking about people who are getting their salaries and *ALL* of their insurance paid for by taxes. um, last time i checked, taxes are not optional - people *HAVE* to pay their taxes. So, the fine people of Alabama have *NO* choice but to pay for these salaries and insurance.

We are talking about people who have the option to get their insurance somewhere else. They can get better insurance, perhaps with the state, but, certainly going out and getting it on their own. Maybe they can get insurance through their spouse's company. They have options if they don't like the insurance situation with the state of Alabama. um, some people don't have all those options.

We are talking about the state of Alabama trying to institute a program that will: 1) save the taxpayers money 2) make some of its citizens healthier 3) reduce state employee absenteeism 4) increase state employee productivity. um, aren't those good things?



So, if you are a state employee who wishes to hang on to the belief that you "were born big" and you are unable to participate in the programs provided for you by your employer for free and you can't afford $25 per month for all that health insurance, well, i am sincerely hoping that you just might have a small sliver of unselfishness in you to forgive me for not feeling sorry for you. i won't be holding my breath.

</grumpy>

 

[FurryFury]

If contested, this will be overturned because it's discriminatory.

 

[subbie_333]

double post

 

[subbie_333]

If contested, this will be overturned because it's discriminatory.

If that happens, then, it is a possibility that the state will decide to drop the FREE insurance for everybody. Then, the insurance company will get to set individual premiums, certainly making it higher for the obese employees. Maybe then they will realize how good they have it now, or, even with that new program.

 

[FurryFury]

If that happens, then, it is a possibility that the state will decide to drop the FREE insurance for everybody. Then, the insurance company will get to set individual premiums, certainly making it higher for the obese employees. Maybe then they will realize how good they have it now, or, even with that new program.

Whatever, people will do what they will do.

 

[SouthernDom]

Here's a preview of the future.

http://aclu.org/pizza/images/screen.swf

 

[callinectes]

<grumpy>

OK, let me get a few things straight:

We are talking about state employees. um, some people don't have *any* job at all

We are talking about people who have insurance. um, some people don't have *any* insurance at all, most of those because they can't afford it,

We may be talking about people whose insurance is better than other people's insurance. Do we know? Why don't we know? um, is Alabama hiding something?

We are talking about people who are getting their insurance FOR FREE. um, not very common i think.

We are talking about people who are getting their salaries and *ALL* of their insurance paid for by taxes. um, last time i checked, taxes are not optional - people *HAVE* to pay their taxes. So, the fine people of Alabama have *NO* choice but to pay for these salaries and insurance.

We are talking about people who have the option to get their insurance somewhere else. They can get better insurance, perhaps with the state, but, certainly going out and getting it on their own. Maybe they can get insurance through their spouse's company. They have options if they don't like the insurance situation with the state of Alabama. um, some people don't have all those options.

We are talking about the state of Alabama trying to institute a program that will: 1) save the taxpayers money 2) make some of its citizens healthier 3) reduce state employee absenteeism 4) increase state employee productivity. um, aren't those good things?



So, if you are a state employee who wishes to hang on to the belief that you "were born big" and you are unable to participate in the programs provided for you by your employer for free and you can't afford $25 per month for all that health insurance, well, i am sincerely hoping that you just might have a small sliver of unselfishness in you to forgive me for not feeling sorry for you. i won't be holding my breath.

</grumpy>

Yup, those are the points everyone is missing. It cracks me up that I, being a state employee, am the only one that doesn't see it as a problem.

 

[Yasashii_Kaze]

I chose to start losing weight purely for cosmetic and self-esteem purposes. I was pretty healthy even at 250 pounds, had normal cholesterol and blood pressure, and never once have I been to the doctor for a weight-related issue. My job does have an incentive program for exercising and no, our SD state employees do not get free insurance.

My cost of groceries alone has doubled since I changed what I eat. Also, living in a rural location, I have to drive 64 miles round-trip to have a decently healthy selection. The nearest Wal-Mart with a grocery (nearest, period) is 90 miles ONE WAY. I have made the choice to lose weight because I hated what I saw in the mirror, but most people around me cannot afford to make the same decision. Even state employees are struggling. It's easier for me because I live alone and bow only to the whims of a very small cat, but who am I to impose my own health choices on someone else or to say that everyone should fit within a certain mold? No one is hurting me because their idea of a balanced meal is adding lettuce to their Whopper. If their eating habits/medication/body type sends them to the doctor more often, it doesn't directly affect me.

However, I don't know how things work in an area where health care is provided for free or by the government, so my opinion there is pretty much worthless.