This from a recent New Mexico Independent post:
And Bingaman also weighed in on his so-far unsuccessful push to include obesity prevention and treatment programs as part of a major health care reform bill — NMI’s Gwyneth Doland talked with him last week about that effort. In a response to critics who argue that the government shouldn’t have a role in combating obesity, Bingaman continued his push in the interview:
Well, I think frankly we’ve got this weird view in the country that if a person comes down with Type Two diabetes because of being overweight, and there’s a pretty good correlation there — I think most physicians would agree with that — and they need dialysis, that the government should step up and provide the resource of that dialysis. I agree with that. If the government is going to be involved in the far end… I don’t see why it’s inappropriate for the government to encourage healthy behavior up front.
See, I don’t agree that the government should pay for a patient to get dialysis for Type Two diabetes that is the result of being overweight. Mind you, I write that knowing full well that diabetes runs in my family.
Aside from the issue of personal responsibility, my other reason for being against this is the very sound logic put forth by Senator Bingaman. Hey, if we’re going to pay for it later, we should be involved in the decision making process before. The path we’re on is for government mandated exercise and government mandated diets. Remember, the government never mandates for some, it mandates for all.