The Bellierub.....
..........on obesity Medicare coverage
The United States Department of Health and Human Services has recently
announced that they will expand Medicare coverage and include treatments for
obesity. There are approximately 40 million people under Medicare's wing
already. 37% of these people are considered to be overweight. 18% are obese.
It's not hard to do the math and come up with some staggering numbers as to
the number of people who may qualify for stomach staple surgery, diet
programs or behavioral counseling.

The governments actions may become quite costly in the long run for the
already cash-strapped taxpayer. With the addition of prescription drug coverage
for Medicare recipients just recently passed by Congress, one can assume that
prescription diet pills may eventually be included under the Medicare umbrella.
Have another beer! Has anyone looked into the cost of these drugs? There are
many similar diet pills explored in The New Beerbellie Diet and the
Search For A Six-Pack. The pills are expensive and have many potential side
effects that should be seriously considered before taking. Besides, aren't most
Medicare recipients typically older people? Wouldn't these drugs have the
potential to do some serious harm to them?

Let's assume for the moment that prescription medication is not covered by
Medicare. If we look at the possibility that stomach staple surgery will be
covered, than we are talking up to $30,000 for a procedure. The Bellierub can
see the medical groups licking their chops already. You can hear "Cha Ching,
Cha Ching, Cha Ching!!"

There is a reported 1% death rate regarding  people who have had stomach
staple surgery. Other patients report calcium and iron deficiencies, severe
vomiting, hair loss and a host of other health problems as a result of this  
operation. One can assume that the older the patient is , the more likely they are
to have complications from this type of procedure. Now, when problems occur
as a result of surgery and the patient wakes up worse off than they were before
going in, what happens?....... They call their lawyer. You can see the can of
worms beginning to open.

If a person has complications or dies as a result of stomach staple surgery that
was provided by Medicare, does that person list Medicare in their lawsuit along
with the doctor, hospital, nursing staff, security company, housekeeping workers
and dietary aides that were involved with their hospital stay? It's not
unreasonable to assume it may happen. The potential for even more lawsuits
for malpractice will continue to drive up doctors and patients insurance costs.
What is really amazing through all of this is that Medicare acted on their own.
There was no vote by Congress. No debate. No nothing. The Department of
Health and Human Services has decided to open the checkbook for a
behavioral controlled health issue. No one contracts obesity. A small segment
of our population may have legitimate reasons for being overweight. The rest of
the people have a case of too much food and not enough activity. That didn't stop
the government though. All they have to do is speed up the presses and make
that money machine work even harder.

Since Uncle Sam is running loose with the checkbook as usual, the Bellierub
will be more than happy to supply Medicare's 40 million members with their very
own copy of  The New Beerbellie Diet and the Search For A Six-Pack. This
would be Medicare's best medicine for their overweight members. They would
learn from Bob Beerbellie and discover that special surgery, diet pills or
behavioral counseling is not necessary.
We would even provide free shipping once the governments check cleared for
the order.

That's the Bellierub on......obesity Medicare coverage.
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