GawinAnderson's Journal, 12 July 2021

Gotta love the way the health insurance industry puts all faith in anyone with that medical degree. They’ll pay for weight loss surgery, usually. So much more expensive than just helping support the cost of helping someone get healthy via exercise, nutrition, etc. I mean I guess I kind of get it in the sense that working out and eating healthy are choices we make (even when very difficult)… while the damage done to someone’s health as a result of being obese is something they can assist with via doctors and meds. I guess they figure if someone wants it bad enough, they will change their lifestyle and then not need those specialists. It’s frustrating though, because our health system is very backwards in so many ways. 

🙂 true. Personal responsibility and determination is why most people make the decision to get healthy.  

I do the same.. My body fat % is 44.0 today. Leaving soon to meet a trainer at the gym, they meant I should have a plan... looking forward to it. I do exercise but can’t reduce calories intake that much - then no energy at all. Insurances want people to take action and save themselves before they pay. As so often in life - nobody saves me except I do. 

They want us sick and don't want to dissuade us from getting sick. It's big money for them. 

Good points… 

I agree 

Some insurance companies will reimburse you for a majority of your membership as long as your using it. I have to go at least 15 times a month for it to be covered with blue cross at lifetime. 

It is great that a lot of insurances do cover gym memberships which I think is above and beyond their responsibility. Why should it not be a PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY for us as individuals to take care of ourselves. After all, who is it that ultimately dies from obesity related issues—- 

Gawain, you look in great shape to me! How dare him say you’re obese!🙃 My doctor is my friend when she retires I’m scared to even get on a scale for another doctor. You are proof of that! Glad your dad is healthy, you will be too!👍 

Preventative medicine is not profitable 🙁 

Agreed! 

Gawain, you look great! I don’t know for sure, but maybe stigma has something to do with it. Obesity is one of the few health conditions that you can see, but it’s a health condition, not a personality trait! We forget that. A person might also develop high cholesterol but not a weight problem, and that is within a person’s control, too. However, we don’t shame people for having high cholesterol, even if it’s caused by diet. We probably don’t even know they have it unless we know that person well! It’s time for a health-only perspective on weight. 

Personal responsibility people. It is our job to not get into this predicament to begin with. This is not new news. Obesity has been a rising problem for years. If you want to stay alive and lead any kind of healthy life you have to deal with your own issues whether physical or psychological. Plan for a healthier life for your kids. Everyone here is on a diet and are still feeding shit to their kids so that they too can grow up to have health and obesity issues. Generational obesity is an enormous problem. 

Thanks, FS peeps. I did do some research and some health insurance will cover some of gym expenses. Which I find cool.  

Kenna, I’m all for personal responsibility and taking ownership however I also think insurance companies should pay at least a small part of preventative care. Mine pays for preventative surgeries and medications so why not also pay $10/month towards a gym membership? I can tell you why. It’s because money is being made off of surgeries and medications and those things they feel are needed. The pharmaceutical company’s and such don’t make money off of gyms but they do insulin and other meds. I think going together with gyms like YMCA or ywca would be beneficial for all. And not pay all of it but pay a small portion (our Y charges like $10/person before fees so even paying half would be incentive for people to try it BEFORE they were 100# overweight I think). I mean they pay for vaccines to prevent diseases... Again, we ALL should take personal responsibility and ownership of the things we do as well.  

Peeperjj— here in California most insurance companies do pay for memberships— and quess what? Most people sign up and NEVER use them. My gym just reopened and they now have a different system. A certain number of days attendance are required or they stop paying. People didn’t even do the insurance company the courtesy of CX if they felt they were not going to use it. Not my money, man. Is such a shitty attitude.  

Hey guys we are all here for the same reasons that's to get healthy and help each other stay fit.. I was just sharing a thought. No need for disagreement. We all have universal responsibility to get our own lives in order. But also as a consumer of insurance and someone who has been working since I was 18. I was just wondering why some insurance company pay for something and not others. But this is America 🇺🇸. Most things you need, you can get by hard work and perseverance. But don't forget the golden rules love your neighbor as yourself. ✌🏾 chew bubble gum and walk. Love y'all..  

Very true Kenna. There should definitely be some rules about it all. Here in Oklahoma massages aren’t even covered. My insurance would rather pay for a physical therapist at $500 per half hour 3x/week for 3 months rather than a 30 min massage for $40 every other week. That’s all I need and all I want just to keep my neck and bulging disc and pinched nerve from hurting. They do make the PT lower it to $150/session BUT massage would mean a savings of almost $5,000 and that’s if I only do PT for 3 months a year and massage twice a month for a year. They’ll pay for 6 months per year. I would gladly go to the gym and massage therapist more often if insurance paid for it. Would give me incentive to do the dreaded cardio when I’m on lifting restrictions lol.  

Preventative medicine is on the shelves of the grocery store: fruits, vegetables, water, meat items of all kinds. Preventative medicine is everywhere in the form of bicycles, tennis rackets, volley balls, hiking trails, swimming pools, golf clubs, WALKING. The nemesis of a decent shot at some kind of a healthy life is available to all but instead it is sodas, little Debbie’s, chips, fast foods, computer games and TV. What more can your doctor or your insurance company do to encourage people to make the better choices. They can’t— they have tried for years and yet we have essentially made zero progress.  

Peeperj — it s no ones responsibility to provide you with incentive. You are the one who will suffer the consequences. Of that is not incentive what is. If you want the massage and they won’t cover it, give up something g in your life and pay for it. Massage is one of the biggest rip offs I can think of. I know soooo many women who get massages billed to their insurances somehow and then laugh about how they got away with freebies. Those kind of people ruin it for those who need it.