Monday, December 15, 2014

How the Obesity Epidemic Drains Medicare and Medicaid | The Fiscal Times

How the Obesity Epidemic Drains Medicare and Medicaid | The Fiscal Times: "Federal and state officials are growing alarmed over the mounting share of government-provided health care going toward treating obesity as the number of overweight Americans continues to rise.

In the past half century, the share of obese adults has increased from just one in eight in 1960 to over one in three today. More than a third of all adults and 17 percent of young people are obese, according to some experts. Many overweight people are plagued by related health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension, arthritis and cancer.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Federal and state officials can no longer take lightly the financial burden the obesity epidemic puts on Medicaid, Medicare and other government health care programs. If the new GOP-led Congress wants to find ways to reduce health care spending, a nationwide initiative to reduce obesity is a key way to go..

Related: Budget Busting U.S. Obesity"



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