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We're All CVS Employees Now
American Thinker ^ | 3/23/2013 | Tara Servatius

Posted on 03/23/2013 3:39:28 AM PDT by markomalley

CVS employees, and the rest of America, had better get used to turning over personal health information like their glucose levels and body mass index to their insurers - and to the federal government.

Starting in 2014, per the dictates of the federal government, your doctor must record your body mass index (BMI), which measures whether you are overweight, each time he or she treats you and turn it over to the government via your electronic health record, which every patient is required to have.  Your BMI will then be tracked by the Health and Human Services Department, the agency rolling out ObamaCare, and a bevy of other state and federal agencies.

Shock and anger ensued this week as CVS employees learned that if they didn't turn over that information to their insurers, they'd be fined.  But CVS is merely rolling out what may become one of the most controversial aspects of ObamaCare a little ahead of schedule.

One needs only to look to Europe to see how our political elites will use ObamaCare, and the BMI weight measure they are so determined to record for each of us, to intrude into and regulate not just our health care, but our lives.

In the U.K., overweight patients or those who smoke are branded "undeserving" and denied treatments like cataract surgery (without which they could eventually go blind) and knee and hip surgery, leaving some who don't qualify for the surgery in agonizing pain.  Some of the U.K.'s "trusts," which regulate the national health care system for various zones of the country, go farther, denying all operations to those who don't meet the government's weight dictates except for lifesaving surgery on their hearts, brains or to remove cancer.


(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Government
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To: Fresh Wind

“I sure as hell don’t want bureaucrats making these decisions for me on the basis of arbitrary guidelines established by other bureaucrats.”

But you want the bureaucrats to pay for your care though, right?

See the folks bitching about this “intrusiveness” are doing so because they actually want someone else to pay, but want no accountability otherwise.

This is what medical care has become. Nobody wants people to suffer, but the time is past when you can live an unhealthy lifestyle (yes, choose your definition here) and expect someone else to pay and not put limits on you.

Medical care should be a patient->doctor relationship only - and that includes payment.

All the nonsense goes away when you pay for the services you want.

If you expect someone else to pay, then you get what THEY pay for.


41 posted on 03/23/2013 7:16:15 AM PDT by RFEngineer
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To: servantboy777

“Americans need to figure out a way to starve out the insurance providers.”

They will willingly become servants of the State, just like banks have become. They aren’t really private companies.


42 posted on 03/23/2013 7:19:29 AM PDT by RFEngineer
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To: markomalley

CVS needs better HR and PR people. My company has been offering a 20% discount if we participate in a voluntary wellness program. I suppose those who choose not to participate could look at it as a 25% penalty.

The company plan is also voluntary. If you don’t like the rules, you can opt out.


43 posted on 03/23/2013 7:29:04 AM PDT by socal_parrot (I hate to say I told you so, but...)
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To: ExTexasRedhead
ObamaCare, the next Holocaust, IMO, including the Democrat’s Death Panels. How does that differ from SS agents picking who went to Labor Camps and who went to the Gas Chambers?

It differs quite a bit, actually. The SS and Labor Camps were real. "Death Panels," however, are not.
44 posted on 03/23/2013 7:31:51 AM PDT by whattajoke (Let's keep Conservatism real.)
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To: erlayman

Plenty of people who are thin get sick. Even those who don’t smoke. There are genetic problems that we may all face. I guess we should all be refused treatment for things. We’re human with bodies that fail for God knows what reasons. I don’t like the government playing God when they are the most godless people I know.


45 posted on 03/23/2013 7:37:01 AM PDT by EarlyAmerican 2
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To: NTHockey

Go to the doctor when you are ill and forget checkups.

You can’t just ‘go to’ a doctor when you are ill any more. You have to be ‘established’ with them- which means a check-up- or as I like to call it, an interrogation and data-mining session. This allows you the privilege of going to see them when you are sick or in need of care. They WILL get you one way or another.


46 posted on 03/23/2013 7:44:02 AM PDT by usmom
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To: TwelveOfTwenty

Smoking dope will be just fine, of course but horrors to the person who attempts to use that evil drug, tobacco!


47 posted on 03/23/2013 7:46:15 AM PDT by zerosix (Native sunflower)
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To: markomalley

I’m looking forward to underground systems of medical care, where doctors are paid cash, with no insurance, no Medicare or Medicaid, all records are kept by the patient and given to the doctor to review prior to treatment, the doctor provides all surgeries they can in the office, and tests are done anonymously, also for cash.

Likely done in parallel with an “above-ground” practice, the pharmaceuticals are skimmed from manufacturer samples, and returns from patients who kick back unused prescriptions to the doctor “for disposal” and a discount. Otherwise, a courier runs pharmaceuticals up from Mexico.

The end result is that HIPPA is avoided, with the patient’s official medical records showing that they never needed treatment for anything, yet got annual checkups showing them to be healthy and normal in every way, do not smoke or drink or engage in any other unhealthy behavior.

Being paid in cash, the doctor can use these funds to get supplies and equipment outside of the system, and likely make a lot more money than they would be *allowed* to make otherwise.

Officially, patients claim that all their problems were “cured” with OTC and herbal remedies.


48 posted on 03/23/2013 7:59:48 AM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy (Best WoT news at rantburg.com)
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To: EarlyAmerican 2

I don’t like the government playing God either but even many private insurers regard obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking etc as falling under “pre-existing” condition rules. However much these people are contributing to the system on an individual basis, intentionally or not, their behavior is driving up rates for the entire pool.


49 posted on 03/23/2013 8:03:58 AM PDT by erlayman
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To: NTHockey

Never go unless you want a bullet removed, a knife taken out of you or certain bones are broken..period. I went for broken ribs twice in 2010 and the tests, xrays, MRI’s should have kept that place running for the whole year. What did they they do? Gave me three pills each visit and scheduled me for a colonoscopy. Cheaper to buy the Oxycodin from the kid next door, which I did. And no, nobody wags their finger even in my face.


50 posted on 03/23/2013 8:07:40 AM PDT by Safetgiver ( Islam makes barbarism look genteel.)
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To: erlayman

So the extra $20,000 in unneeded tests,layouts and general theft you ARE willing to pay for, huh. Get a life.


51 posted on 03/23/2013 8:10:21 AM PDT by Safetgiver ( Islam makes barbarism look genteel.)
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To: erlayman

What you fail to understand is that your weight is rarely the consequence of your volition. It is much more controlled by our glands, which don’t excrete less or more based upon our willpower.

This doesn’t mean exercise and self control aren’t consequential, but judging our fellow man based upon BMI is ignorant at best.

There are reasons why those over 55 trend with higher BMI, cholesterol, sometimes higher blood sugar levels, use more medications. It isn’t all due to volition.


52 posted on 03/23/2013 8:14:29 AM PDT by Cvengr (Adversity in life and death is inevitable. Thru faith in Christ, stress is optional.)
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To: markomalley
In the U.K., overweight patients or those who smoke are branded "undeserving" and denied treatments like cataract surgery (without which they could eventually go blind) and knee and hip surgery, leaving some who don't qualify for the surgery in agonizing pain. Some of the U.K.'s "trusts," which regulate the national health care system for various zones of the country, go farther, denying all operations to those who don't meet the government's weight dictates except for lifesaving surgery on their hearts, brains or to remove cancer.

...and the result....plumber guy was not allowed to get a cast for broken arm because he was smoking the same day....

...also denied disability payments...."you still got an arm...you can clean out toilets with that bend in it"


53 posted on 03/23/2013 8:33:48 AM PDT by spokeshave (The only people better off today than 4 years ago are the Prisoners at Guantanamo.)
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To: spokeshave; All
if you want to understand how Obamacare works....just google:

Liverpool Pathway Controversy

Read and weep

54 posted on 03/23/2013 8:41:54 AM PDT by spokeshave (The only people better off today than 4 years ago are the Prisoners at Guantanamo.)
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To: Cvengr

I don’t completely understand. Are you saying that my glands decide whether or not to eat that dessert? ...or to buy that milkshake and eat it? ...or to not exercise more? ...or to sit around all day watching TV and eating sheet cake? My glands do this????? It seems that ultimately it is your choice.


55 posted on 03/23/2013 8:46:35 AM PDT by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp?)
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To: Cvengr

Listen, if obesity “runs in the family” then running will prevent the family from becoming obese. If your great grandparents spent most of their waking hours engaged in physical work they were probably thin, regardless of whether they had the fat gene, the ‘emotional distress’ gene or not. I’m not prejudice in the least against obesity — just saying there is no organ in the body that causes the eater to consume too many doughnuts. And they should be paying for those doughnuts as well as the consequences regardless.


56 posted on 03/23/2013 8:55:00 AM PDT by erlayman
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To: whattajoke

According to Palin, Rush, Mark Levin, et al. the ObamaCare death panels are as real as all the Marxist feces in DeathCare. I recommend doing some homework before you face one.


57 posted on 03/23/2013 9:27:23 AM PDT by ExTexasRedhead
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To: jsanders2001; All

Exactly.. I try to maintain a balance of lifting weights and cardios..


58 posted on 03/23/2013 10:25:55 AM PDT by KevinDavis (Third Parties are for losers.)
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To: erlayman

>>>Cry me a river. Did they lose weight or quit smoking ? I sure as hell don’t want to subsidize the added medical charges incurred by the people not taking care of themselves.<<<

I’m 57 years old.

My resting heart rate is 60 beats per minute. My blood pressure is about 115/65. My cholestrerol levels are low. I can run one mile in about seven minutes. I work out every three days at the local gym, walking two miles at a brisk pace, then using weights for about 45 minutes. As a joke, I recently arm wrestled the star athlete on our community’s high school basketball team and beat him in about 20 seconds. I sleep well, don’t smoke or use drugs, and I’m told by every medical professional I meet that I’m in remarkably good shape for a man my age. I eat a healthy combination of meat which is hunted from animals living nearby (I live in Alaska), fish from the river, and vegetables from the garden. I don’t drink very often. The only medical problem I have is gout, which flares up about once each year.

My body mass index is about 31.5, which means that I’m obese. According to the government, I’m a fat pig who deserves to be last in line because my BMI indicates that it is so. Can I lose weight? Probably, but only at a risk to my health. But when you’re being looked at by numbers on a page, you lose the humanity of the person.

Your response about not wanting to subsidize people not taking care of themselves is one of the less commented on aspects of state-run health care. Socialized medicine tears apart communities as people start feeling envy, or disgust, at “paying for” neighbors who might not be “taking care of themselves.” Let’s say you need medical care but you haven’t done the right things to prepare for it. Would you like me to say “cry me a river,” or would you like me to be helpful and sympathetic? Of course, with state-run care, there are no tears - just a rubric outlining who gets what. My BMI pegs me as someone I am not. Maybe yours does, too, in a manner you’re not aware of. Yet.

If you want to cry a river, cry for our country.

God help us.


59 posted on 03/23/2013 10:36:52 AM PDT by redpoll
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To: Cvengr

“What you fail to understand is that your weight is rarely the consequence of your volition. “

Your weight is ALWAYS a consequence of calories in being greater than calories out for a sustained period of time, in every case.

Some folks burn calories naturally faster than others, but the fact remains that obesity and overweight IS a factor of eating more calories than you burn. So lets dispense with that right now.

Genetics may make your metabolism faster or slower, may make you build muscle faster or slower, may make you lazy or not, but if you burn more calories than you take in on a sustained basis you will lose weight every single time, regardless of glands, or other malady, except perhaps kidney failure.


60 posted on 03/23/2013 10:46:51 AM PDT by RFEngineer
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