Gluttonous Fed Demands Your Obesity Index
What was once a worrisome encroachment of federal power over our lives has become a full scale assault. Unsatisfied with dictating the amount of water our toilets can flush and the kind of light bulbs we may use, these nagging, harping, micro-managing, nit-picking, incompetent, meddlesome, butt-headed buffoons keep coming back at us with all the aggravating regularity of a recurring infection. The latest intrusion? Your Body Mass Index. According to CNS News:
New federal regulations issued this week stipulate that the electronic health records - that all Americans are supposed to have by 2014 under the terms of the stimulus law that President Barak Obama signed last year - must record not only the traditional measures of height and weight, but also the Body Mass Index: a measure of obesity.
The question then arises; what do they intend on doing with this information? Well, the law goes on to say that your BMI will be made available on a national exchange. From there it will not just gather dust. You see, the law also requires that your information be put to, "meaningful use." That's a pretty vague term, but failure to comply could be costly. Doctors and hospitals that do not put your personal information to "meaningful use," could see a diminishment in their Medicare and Medicaid funds.
Now, if I'm not mistaken, President Obama just made a recess appointment of Donald Berwick to oversee Medicare and Medicaid. You will recall that Berwick is an enthusiastic convert to the idea of rationed medical care. Now, what do you suppose an adherent of medical rationing would want with your federally mandated personal BMI obesity information?
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Comments :
May '10
Re: Gluttonous Fed Demands Your Obesity Index
Ah, the Brave New World. Meanwhile the FDA is raiding farms and co-ops around the country because they're trying to opt out (legally) from the FDA's regulation schemes.
Jun '10
Re: Gluttonous Fed Demands Your Obesity Index
I'll take a tattoo on my arm before I let the government have my BMI because when you think about it, it's the same thing. What's more, the government index is based on a completely arbitrary rubric. Why assume that a 6 foot 7 inch beanpole with back and neck problems is more healthy than a 5 foot 5 inch bruiser weighing in at a buck seventy. I can still throw around hundred pound bags of cement at age 53. Mr. Beanpole was probably a cripple before he hit 40.
Re: Gluttonous Fed Demands Your Obesity Index
Dave, Daniel Henninger makes the point in yesterday's Wall Street Journal that Dr. Berwick's recess appointment to head CMS is of much greater practical consequence than Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court. I agree with him. The column is a must-read and I think it's outside the WSJ pay wall.
May '10
Re: Gluttonous Fed Demands Your Obesity Index
Judging by Dave Carter's photo and the tone of his post, I would pay money to see Harry Ried's attempt to latch onto Dave's buttocks with his little BMI calipers. Good luck with that, Harry.