Panel Urges Health Insurance Companies to Encourage Healthy Lifestyles

On September 30, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved, by voice vote, a resolution (H. Con. Res. 34) expressing the sense of Congress that health insurance companies should do more to encourage people to lead healthy and more active lifestyles, provide discounted premiums to those enrollees who exercise regularly, and encourage frequent screening for diseases that are easily treatable in their early stages.

Sponsored by Rep. Karen McCarthy (D-MO), the resolution contains a number of findings, including:

• In the United States, 61 percent of adults and 13 percent of children and adolescents are overweight or obese;
• Obesity increases the risk of more than 30 medical conditions, including heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and diabetes;
• Weight training is proven to increase bone density and reduce osteoporosis among men and women over the age of 50;
• Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson acknowledges that $270 billion in health care costs are spent on preventable diseases, including $183 billion on heart disease alone;
• If more than 88 million inactive adults in the United States began regular exercise, national medical costs would decrease by more than $76 billion each year;
• The Internal Revenue Code of 1986 provides tax incentives for taxpayers who are obese, but not for those who are active and healthy; and
• Providing incentives for exercise and strength training would help more people become active and healthy, and would decrease national medical costs.