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Soda Tax Weighed to Pay for Health Care Reform?
How does drinking soda relate to childhood obesity? Richard F. Daines, M.D., New York State’s Health Commissioner, explains why more milk consumption and a tax on sugar based soda are better for kids’ health.There will have to be a helluva lot more soda consumed to pay for Obamacare.
Senate leaders are considering new federal taxes on soda and other sugary drinks to help pay for an overhaul of the nation’s health-care system.
The taxes would pay for only a fraction of the cost to expand health-insurance coverage to all Americans and would face strong opposition from the beverage industry. They also could spark a backlash from consumers who would have to pay several cents more for a soft drink.
On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee is set to hear proposals from about a dozen experts about how to pay for the comprehensive health-care overhaul that President Barack Obama wants to enact this year. Early estimates put the cost of the plan at around $1.2 trillion. The administration has so far only earmarked funds for about half of that amount.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based watchdog group that pressures food companies to make healthier products, plans to propose a federal excise tax on soda, certain fruit drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and ready-to-drink teas. It would not include most diet beverages. Excise taxes are levied on goods and manufacturers typically pass them on to consumers.
Reducing consumption of sugary drinks will certainly help obesity and dental health. However, I really cannot foresee any beverage tax coming anywhere close to paying for ANY socialized universal health care system the way President Obama has envisioned.
To think so, is just plain stupid. But, you know bureaucrats and big government folks – like Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Obama.
Pretty soon, the government will attempt to restrict the amount of calories an American can consume a day since everyone will be paying for government run health care. You know, less calories, more health, less death – more years to pay taxes to the state.
It is all good, right?
Technorati Tags: Soda Tax, Obamacare, Socialized Medicine
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Video: The Faces of Government Healthcare
Canadian physician Dr. Brian Day discusses the Canadian Socialized healthcare systemA new website is up: The Faces of Government Healthcare
Before Congress considers any form of government-run health care, they should hear the voices of patients denied care because the government deemed it too costly or delayed care because of long waiting lists for surgery or diagnostic tests.
Any serious discussion of health care reform that does not include choice, competition, accountability and responsibility — the four “pillars” of patients’ rights — will result in our government truly becoming a “nanny-state,” making decisions based on what is best for society and government rather than individuals deciding what is best for each of us.
Check it out…..
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Shortage of Doctors to Derail Obama Universal Care?
No, the Obama Administration will simply enter the medical marketplace and train more doctors.Obama administration officials, alarmed at doctor shortages, are looking for ways to increase the supply of physicians to meet the needs of an aging population and millions of uninsured people who would gain coverage under legislation championed by the president.
The officials said they were particularly concerned about shortages of primary care providers who are the main source of health care for most Americans.
One proposal — to increase Medicare payments to general practitioners, at the expense of high-paid specialists — has touched off a lobbying fight.
Family doctors and internists are pressing Congress for an increase in their Medicare payments. But medical specialists are lobbying against any change that would cut their reimbursements. Congress, the specialists say, should find additional money to pay for primary care and should not redistribute dollars among doctors — a difficult argument at a time of huge budget deficits.
Some of the proposed solutions, while advancing one of President Obama’s goals, could frustrate others. Increasing the supply of doctors, for example, would increase access to care but could make it more difficult to rein in costs.
Every socialized plan by the Obama Administration and every argument for universal care leads to the main question: Who is going to pay for this?
Unless you ration the care like the United Kingdom’s National Health Service, bureaucratize care and have government price controls, universal health care is simply too expensive for the government to provide. Even with that the NHS provides abysmal care with horror stories at least once a week in the U.K. press.
Now, the Obamacare advocates are worried about the number of primary care physicians. They might want to address the question as to how many doctors will continue to practice if they radically change the health care system in the United States?
Technorati Tags: Socialized Medicine, Obamacare
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Mexico and the United States on the Verge of a Swine Flu Pandemic
+++++Update+++++Question & Answer Swine Flu in the United States and Mexico
Further information: CDC’s swine flu page and the initial report published earlier this week.
You know, Flap had Influenza A over Christmas and ended up in the hospital for over 4 days.This swine flu epidemic is serious business. And, there is NO vaccine yet available.
A strain of flu never seen before has killed up to 60 people in Mexico and has also appeared in the United States, where eight people were infected but recovered, health officials said on Friday.
Mexico’s government said at least 20 people have died of the disease in central Mexico and that it may also have been responsible for 40 other deaths.
Mexico reported more than 1,000 suspected cases and four possible cases were also seen in Mexicali, right on the border with California.
The World Health Organization said tests showed the virus from 12 of the Mexican patients was the same genetically as a new strain of swine flu, designated H1N1, seen in eight people in California and Texas.
“Our concern has grown as of yesterday,” U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acting director Dr. Richard Besser told reporters in a telephone briefing.
Global health officials were not ready to declare a pandemic — a global epidemic of a new and deadly disease such as flu. “So far there has not been any change in the pandemic threat level,” Besser said.
But the human-to-human spread of the new virus raised fears of a major outbreak and Mexico’s government canceled classes for millions of children in its sprawling capital city and surrounding areas. All large public events like concerts were suspended in Mexico City.
Close analysis showed the disease is a never-before-seen mixture of swine, human and avian viruses, according to the CDC.
Most of the Mexican dead were aged between 25 and 45, a Mexican health official said, in a worrying sign. Seasonal flu can be more deadly among the very young and the very old but a hallmark of pandemics is that they affect healthy young adults.
Mexico has enough antiviral drugs to combat the outbreak for the moment, Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said.
The WHO said the virus appears to be susceptible to Roche AG’s flu drug Tamiflu, also known as oseltamivir, but not to older flu drugs such as amantadine.
The last “FLU” pandemic was in 1968 when the “HONG KONG FLU” killed around a million people around the world.
The “SWINE FLU” is an Influenza “A” Virus and is designated H1N1. It has DNA from birds, pigs and human viruses.
The Centers for Disease Control is working on a vaccine.
Related Links:- Most fatal flu victims aged between 25-45…
- Swine flu could infect trade and travel…
- WHO ready with antivirals…
- The mysterious respiratory illness…
- CDC says too late to contain…
- 60 DEAD: Mexico City launches huge vaccination campaign…
- CLOSE TO 1,000 SUSPECTED CASES…
- Heighten Risk of Pandemic…
- Concerns in California, Texas…
- Mutated from pigs, transmitted to humans…
Stay tuned…….
Technorati Tags: Influenza A, Swine Flu, Tamiflu
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Fat People Causing Global Warming?
Originally, I thought this was from the increased flatulance caused by the obese or moderately fat folks but the wife put me straight saying that people on diets make more gas because they eat more fiber.Go figure.
Scientists warned that the increase in big-eaters means more food production — a major cause of CO2 gas emissions warming the planet.
Overweight people are also more likely to drive, adding to environmental damage.
I can see moderating one’s diet for health and exercising to prevent obesity. We want a health human population
But, this other stuff seems to be pop culture nutter stuff.
Funny though…….
Technorati Tags: Global Warming, Health
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40 Per Cent of Australian Women Have Really Big Boobs
This is what the Australian lingerie suppliers show with the latest figures (Via Rusty).THE bra market is expanding, literally. Up to 40 per cent of Australian women now buy bras with a cup size of DD or higher, new figures from lingerie suppliers show.
In the 1950s, the most common bra-cup size was a B – three sizes less than a DD.
Modern breasts are getting so large that some bra companies have introduced cup sizes as high as K, The Sunday Telegraph reports.
Experts blame the cleavage boost on obesity, contraceptive pills and artificial hormones.
Myer lingerie buyer Kerryn Sawyer said sales of DD-plus bras have grown from about 20 per cent of sales to 28 per cent in just five years.
Many lingerie labels such as Berlei and Triumph are now offering G cups while Fayreform, Freya and Le Mystere are producing select styles up to a size J.
Berlei brand manager Jane Edser said the company’s range of bra styles, available in DD-plus, had, increased since 2005 from 75 per cent to 83 per cent, to cater for the growing market.
Bra company Eveden Australia launched a K cup into the market last year. The company’s fitting specialist, Victoria Jubb, said obesity contributed significantly to the expanding chest sizes but the number of small-figured women with large breasts was on the increase.
“We’re noticing a lot more girls with small backs and bigger bust sizes being fitted,” she said.
Eveden’s top-selling size is a 10G.
The obesity factor is definitely a bad statistic and the resulting lack of fitness for Australian women.
But, as for the aesthetics……
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Did the Canadian Health Care System KILL Natasha Richardson?
The late Natasha Richardson
Michelle has a good piece up but there is no consensus on the matter.Flap knows one thing – no more vacations in Canada for the foreseeable future.
Technorati Tags: Natasha Richardson, Canada, Health Care
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Obama Considers Taxing Worker’s Health Care Benefits
Obama Campaign Ad: “It Gets Worse” highlights that first we learned John McCain wanted to tax health care benefits to pay for part of his health care plan, and now the Wall Street Journal reports that McCain would pay for the rest of his plan by making “major reductions to Medicare and Medicaid,” eight hundred and eighty two billion from Medicare alone. We simply can’t afford John McCain.Say it isn’t so. Obama who heavily criticised John McCain just a few months ago about his health care plan is considering the EXACT same thing – taxing worker’s health benefits.
So far, administration officials have been careful not to endorse the idea, which Obama blasted as a major tax increase last year after Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) made it the centerpiece of his presidential campaign’s health plan. But the president hasn’t slammed the door on it, either.
This week, White House budget director Peter Orszag said taxing employer benefits was among several ideas that “most firmly should remain on the table.” White House economic adviser Jason Furman called for an end to the so-called “employer exclusion” before he joined the administration. Meanwhile, some congressional Democrats say the White House has signaled that Obama would accept a tax on employer benefits as long as he didn’t have to propose it himself.
Flap remembers these campaign ads tearing up the airwaves in Nevada over the summer. But, here we have…. Another case where Obama’s campaign statements come with an expiration date.
Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, Health Care, John McCain
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Poll Watch: Obama Should Delay Health Care Reform Until the Economy is Better
Obama on Single Payer Health Care, August 2008The latest Rasmussen poll indicates American voters favor a delay of an Obama health care reform initiative.
President Obama told the nation last week that health care reform is one of the top three priorities of his administration, but 49% of U.S. voters say the president should wait until the economy improves before moving forward on the health care front.
Forty-two percent (42%) believe Obama should go ahead with health care reform now, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Ten percent (10%) are not sure what Obama should do.
Sixty-six percent (66%) of Democrats believe the president should move ahead now, but 72% of Republicans and 57% of voters not affiliated with either party say Obama should wait until the economy improves.
The simple fact is there is just not any money to pay for expanding to a universal type national health care system or such a modified initiative. The economy is in a shambles and the Obama Administration has ALREADY facilitated massive government spending.
This won’t happen before the 2010 elections.
Technorati Tags: Barack Obama
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Shocker Poll: Most Voters Say Leave MY Health Insurance Alone
Not really a shock, is this Rasmussen poll?Health care reform is near the top of the list for incoming President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats, but a majority of U.S. voters (58%) oppose any kind of government-controlled health plan if it means they have to change their own insurance coverage.
Twenty-five percent (25%) say they would support such a plan even if they had to change their own coverage, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Sixteen percent (16%) are undecided.
With all of the bailouts and increased spending planned by the Obama Administration, does anyone really expect universal healthcare?
No, we don’t and thank goodness.