If You’re Eating Too Much, Don’t Worry, Obamacare Will Take Care Of It

From the LA Times comes this nanny state update.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force urged doctors to identify patients with a body mass index of 30 or more — currently 1 in 3 Americans — and either provide counseling themselves or refer the patient to a program designed to promote weight loss and improve health prospects.

Under the current healthcare law, Medicare and most private insurers would be required to cover the entire cost of weight-loss services that meet or exceed the task force’s standards.

 

So if I want a Hawaiian vacation to help keep me from consuming too many milkshakes this summer, will Obamacare cover that too?

The Knitting Group vs. The IOC

From Businessweek comes the story of the dust-up between a massive online knitting group and the U.S. Olympic Committee.

On July 27, the 2012 Ravelympics kicks off with a marathon knit-off during the opening ceremonies of the 2012 London Games. At least, that was the plan. Earlier this week, the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) sent the 2 million-member knitting group a cease-and-desist letter, asking them to stop.

“We believe using the name ‘Ravelympics’ for a competition that involves an afghan marathon, scarf hockey and sweater triathlon, among others, tends to denigrate the true nature of the Olympic Games,” the USOC wrote in the letter. “It is disrespectful to our country’s finest athletes and fails to recognize or appreciate their hard work.”

Gallup: 17.8%

Economic policies have consequences. And bad economic policies have very, very bad consequences. Gallup reports the number of American adults who are in the workforce, but are either out of a job completely or working only part time because they can’t find a full time job is a staggering 17.8 percent.

Trendy App Developers Run Into The FDA’s Regulatory Web

The young and trendy app developer world is running into the day-to-day reality of regulation. Those looking to develop health related apps are trying to figure out how to work with and through the FDA. No longer is “regulation” a boring, intangible concept only discussed by think tanks. Check out the comments from Joel White, executive director of the Health IT Now Coalition.

According to the Government Accountability Office, the FDA takes about six months to approve a medical device that is similar to an existing product and 20 months to approve a brand new device. That’s simply too slow, White says.

“We’re seeing mobile apps updated and created on a daily basis,” he adds. “The life cycle is dramatically different.”

The upside of what the app industry is facing is that younger people who see the entrepreneurial opportunities of apps will begin to understand exactly what regulation is and why it drains business and stifles innovation.

It’s Durham and Orange Vs. Wake

Carolina Journal’s Dan Way reports on the efforts by Democratically controlled Durham and Orange counties to push ahead with the ill-advised, costly plan for light rail. Only the Republican controlled Wake County commission has the foresight to fully analyze the plan’s costs and benefits before jumping aboard the utopian dream of having a train in the Triangle. Even Durham County Manager Mike Ruffin believes the Wake commissioners are proceeding correctly.

Ruffin supported Wake County’s desire to study the transit plan further.

“What I see going on in Wake is very healthy” with bipartisan debate because the plan is very complex, he said. 

Even with an all-Democrat board, “It still had a lot of debate here before it saw the light of day, and, I think, deservedly so,” Ruffin said.

Before the Wake commission’s vote, Wake County Director of Elections Cherie Poucher told Carolina Journal she had cautioned commissioners against placing the referendum on the ballot. 

“We don’t have room on the ballot spacewise … because of the number of contests that are on the general election ballot,” Poucher said.