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News: Fees for Overweight Employees, DHS Street Cameras, Riches and more...

by Tryan Hartill

Being Overweight Might Cost You

ABC has an interesting write up on employers that are charging their overweight employees fees if they don’t slim down. Legal issues are pending related to the Americans with Disabilities Act.

In other health news, the U.S. has fallen to 42nd in life expectancy. Much of it is caused by high infant mortality rates compared to other countries and black males, who only live to an average age of 69.

How Rich are you?

A website called the Global Rich List will tell you how rich you are compared to the rest of the world. I am in the top 2%...Woo Hoo!

In other Rich news, the Wall Street Journal has an article up that ponders whether rich kids really have an advantage because many fail to learn how to manage money.

Smile! You’re on Camera

The Boston Globe is reporting that the Department of Homeland Security is spending big bucks on surveillance cameras:

The Department of Homeland Security is funneling millions of dollars to local governments nationwide for purchasing high-tech video camera networks, accelerating the rise of a “surveillance society” in which the sense of freedom that stems from being anonymous in public will be lost, privacy rights advocates warn…..a large number of new surveillance systems, costing at least tens and probably hundreds of millions of dollars, are being simultaneously installed around the country as part of homeland security grants. (Pssst one guy running for President would eliminate DHS)

Indecision ‘08

Karl Rove Resigns!

The Rocky Mountain Chronicle has an in depth story on the life of Rudy Giuliani. Along with my favorite Rudy quote:

“Freedom is not a concept in which people can do anything they want, be anything they can be. Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do.”

In other ‘08 news, Fox News reports on the Iowa Straw Poll. They give the results, but leave out the 4th and 5th place finishers and then continue on with 6th 7th and 8th. To bad for Tancredo and Paul.

Finally, Tommy Thompson has dropped out of the race.

Dick Cheney Tells Us Why We should Not Invade Iraq

I’m sure most have seen this, but if you have not, it is only a minute long and a must see. The guy was brilliant…in 1994…what happened?

Aug 13, 12:28 am | Tryan Hartill
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6 comments on this article (post your own)

1 On Aug 13, 10:19 pm, Mom of Three wrote:

1. If you’re going to charge smokers more for health care, you should charge the overweight more. Maybe not quite as much, but seriously, when are we going to stop ignoring this elephant in the room? I type medical reports for a living, and if people truly understood the havoc extra pounds wreaks upon joints, the cardiovascular system, blood pressure by extension, cholesterol and how it causes necrotic tissue, diabetes, poor hygiene, fungi, respiratory distress…I could go on and on. It’s a serious problem.

2. Whenever I hear about cameras everywhere, I think of 1984 and how the protagonist was always mindful to wear no expression (Winston) when he was around cameras. His face just went blank. It’s a little creepy knowing, that if you’re in Target and you’ve got a wedgie, if you don’t wait until you get inside a dressing room, you pulling it out is on tape. Of course, I’d never do that.

2 On Aug 14, 06:34 pm, Walter Richards wrote:

RE: overweight employees

There was an article a while ago in the Longview paper about it. One thing I noticed was that the article said many employers use a weight/height ratio to determine if an employee is overweight. And the federal gov’t has guidelines for such. Just a little problem.

What happens when people begin exercising due to these programs, and replace fat with muscle? Muscle weighs more. But the guidelines don’t take that into account. So the guideline says you should weigh X at Z”. But because you exercise, your body fat is actually less than “normal” and your muscles mass more … so you still weigh more than the guideline.

So to “weed out” the muscle vs fat weight ratio of two individuals of same height and mass … you’ll have to do a “body fat analysis”, rather than just put them on scales. And the question is, are employers willing to pay for that … rather than abandon the program the first time the issue comes up, or face a lawsuit trying to prove they weren’t discriminating?

3 On Aug 14, 09:31 pm, THartill wrote:

Good point Walter.

Twice in the last 8 years I have been in “tip top” shape. Weight-lifting/basketball/running at least once a day and sometimes all 3…and I weighed 185. Multiple times I have been a fat P.O.S. and sat on my ass all day while eating fast food 1-3 times a day (had to buy new bigger clothes and new belts) and I never weighed over 190!

Either way I would be 10-15 pounds “overweight” and if I had the kind of employers discussed in the article, I would have to pony up whether I was solid as a rock or a doughboy.

Even if they did BFA’s, this still is a tough subject for me to have an opinion on. On one hand the company should be able to do whatever they want and if you don’t like it you can leave. But OTOH where does it stop? It’s just smoking and weight now, soon it may be your family history or your cholesterol level and blood pressure. Then all the good jobs/cheap insurance are taken by the “elite” and you have the bottom struggling through little or no fault of their own.

4 On Aug 15, 03:54 pm, Walter Richards wrote:

Here’s something I just thought of. Y’know how some people claim that obesity is a disease?

Then, if a person is overweight due to it being a disease, shouldn’t they check “yes” that they have a “pre-existing medical condition” on their insurance application? Hmmmmmm.

5 On Aug 18, 10:02 pm, Mom of Three wrote:

You make some good points, but I don’t think these employers will be squabbling over a few pounds or even 20 or 30. However, if one is obese, you’re in a whole other diagnostic category. There’s not a nebulous idea of “is it muscle, is it fat” because there is obviously an excess of fat.

I don’t think we’re talking about a little gut or some saddlebags here.

6 On Aug 18, 10:43 pm, Mom of Three wrote:

Did I mention that I think we need nationalized health care in any case? This would make this discussion moot, but under the current construct, I can see their point.

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