Personal Fit Weight Loss Guide: Overweight Healthcare Costs
Posted on: Friday, 8 December 2006, 00:00 CST
We know a lot about the effects of being overweight on our long-term health, but what about our long-term wealth?
According to U.S. Department of Human Health and Services, the total cost of conditions resulting from being overweight was estimated to be $117 billion in 2004. For a sense of scale, that was 1% of our U.S. Gross National Product. Of this amount, an estimated $61 billion was due to direct medical costs and $56 billion to lost productivity. In another study, National Coalition of Health Care reports that the cost of health care is rising overall at a rate of almost 8% per year.
That's national. Let's talk about personal financial burdens. Let's say you've been carrying extra weight for a few years. Your chances of damaging the cartilage in your knee is about three times more likely than if you had never gained extra weight. Your personal part of the expense will depend on your health insurance, but let's assume that when you add up the bills from physicians, the MRI, surgeons and physical therapy, the total comes to somewhere between $8,000 to $10,000. Your part of the bills would be about $1,000 if you were lucky enough to have a low deductible policy. Also, how much is the downtime that you spend recovering worth to you?
The list goes on. The average coronary bypass costs around $45,000. If not heart problems, maybe it's trouble sleeping. If obstructive sleep apnea is the problem, the machine strapped to your face at night will cost about $1,000 plus the cost of all the diagnostic work. If you are diabetic, you have testing meters, insulin pumps, and drugs to buy. If you get bigger, your clothes have to change with you.
What to do? Be informed. The Internet is a great source of information. Use a consolidator that can separate the web-hype from the useful information like http://Personal-Fit-Weight-Loss-Guide.com.
Go directly to 'how to' and skip the 'overpriced pills with mythic powers.' Personal Fit Weight Loss Guide is a web-based information center delivering knowledge, insight, and direction for those who recognize a need to lose weight.
Personal Fit Weight Loss Guide
http://dx.doi.org/10.2121/Weight-Loss-Guide-120706
Source: Business Wire
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