Health -- bad news from The Washington Post
A two-fer - first --
boomers (Hey! That's me!) health:
Baby boomers in worse health than their parents at the same life stage, study says
Members of the baby boomer generation are in worse health than their parents were at the same stage of life, with obesity and lack of exercise taking a toll, according to a new study.
About 13 percent of baby boomers � the generation born in the two decades after World War II � reported being in �excellent� health in middle age. That compares with 32 percent of the previous generation who said the same thing at the same stage of life, researchers reported in JAMA Internal Medicine.
�The baby boomer generation has a reputation of being active,� said Dana King, a professor at the West Virginia School of Medicine and the study�s lead author. But �that did not seem to jibe with what we�re seeing in our medical offices.�
And, Obamacare's pre-existing conditions promise?
Out of money already:
Funds run low for health insurance in state �high-risk pools�
Tens of thousands of Americans who cannot get health insurance because of preexisting medical problems will be blocked from a program designed to help them because funding is running low.
Obama administration officials said Friday that the state-based �high-risk pools� set up under the 2010 health-care law will be closed to new applicants as soon as Saturday and no later than March 2, depending on the state.
A bit more -- the money in question is five billion dollars:
The program, which was launched in summer 2010, was always intended as a temporary bridge for the uninsured. But it was supposed to last until 2014. At that point, the health-care law will bar insurers from rejecting or otherwise discriminating against people who are already sick, enabling such people to buy plans through the private market.
Supposed to last for four years -- spent in two. Obamacare hasn't even kicked in yet and it is already running out of money.
The health care system needed reform but central planning was not the way to do it -- institute tort reform for frivolous malpractice cases, allow insurance to be purchased across state lines, open clinics 24/7 for low need emergency care for the uninsured. There are a lot of things that could be done that aren't.
Posted by DaveH at February 16, 2013 10:19 AM