Kenneth Thorpe on Obesity

Despite many of the problems developing around the world, America continually ranks among the top – the most obese, the most chronic disease with some of the most costly healthcare. By the year 2030, nearly half of America’s elderly population will be obese. Clearly it is time to treat obesity as the national health crisis that it is. 
First Lady Michelle Obama has done great work teaching children the value of exercise and healthy nutritional choices, and ideally this effort will positively impact generations to come in the way of prevention. But there is so much more that needs to be done. In Oklahoma City, for example, city officials decided they would no longer accept being labeled, as one magazine did, as “the fattest city in America,” and launched a community-wide effort to successfully lose over a million cumulative pounds and become one of the fittest cities in America. Surely subsequent studies will show that Oklahoma City’s diabetes and heart disease rates, and its healthcare costs, declined as well. It is efforts like this that can and should certainly be replicated. 
Further, public policy leadership with a willingness to embrace new ideas that work will be imperative. Two-thirds of Medicare beneficiaries have multiple chronic diseases – many obesity-related. Medicare, however, has established very narrow parameters in the therapies it will cover to help people achieve a healthier weight. There is coverage for bariatric surgery if certain thresholds ...

Source: PHRMA - January 21, 2015 Category: Pharmaceuticals Authors: Emily Source Type: news