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EDITORIAL: Weighty Dilemma: Should All Health-Care Consumers Pay Extra Costs Relating to Obesity?

Posted on: Saturday, 15 April 2006, 15:00 CDT

By The Fresno Bee, Calif.

Apr. 15--America's battle with obesity is evident in health-care services.

Hospitals are buying new, specialized equipment to accommodate extremely obese patients -- extra-wide wheelchairs, heavy-duty walkers, beds built to hold someone weighing 500-plus pounds, extra-large operating tables and extra-long surgical instruments.

Hospitals have little choice but to accommodate heavier patients. They're serving more and more of them.

Nationwide, about 65% of adults are overweight or obese. In the Valley, 55% of adult women are considered overweight or obese, and 71% of adult men are.

But providing accommodations for large patients isn't cheap. Hospitals spend thousands of dollars for equipment.

Paying for special equipment can be especially costly for small and medium-size hospitals that have fewer resources than large medical centers, but they too are confronted with an increasing number of obese patients who need services.

Another cost of extreme obesity is in job-related injuries to health-care workers, which also adds to the nursing shortage and increases costs to hospitals in work-related insurance claims.

We've all had to pay escalating health-care costs in recent years. Having to buy expensive new equipment to accommodate extremely obese patients will drive those costs up even higher.

Is that fair to health-care consumers who are not overweight?

The problem of our nation's epidemic of obesity is complex. There are cases, of course, in which a person's obesity is out of his or her control, whether it is due to genetics, disease, mental illness or poverty.

But others are overweight because they don't choose to take the steps necessary to live a healthier life. And if they get sick and seek medical attention, their choices cost everyone more money.

Airline industries have increased costs for obese customers. Several carriers -- Southwest, Continental and American -- require large people to buy a second seat for passenger safety and comfort.

There is a push in some quarters to charge extremely obese patients -- and those with some other diseases -- more for health insurance. Some say health insurance should be like auto insurance -- the higher your risk, the more you should pay.

It may not come to that, for a number of reasons. But it's understandable that people would cry unfair when those who don't take the steps to lose weight expect others to bear the burden or cost of their problem.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Fresno Bee, Calif.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: The Fresno Bee

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