Effects of Obesity on Insurers and Insurance Costs - Research Paper Example

The Impact of Obesity The increase in the number of obese individuals in the United s is alarming. Over the years, many people continue to be diagnosed with obesity, a condition characterized by individuals having a body mass index of over 30 (Polednak 451). The number of obese people in the United States has led to the widespread occurrence of obesity to be termed as an increasing epidemic. Recently, I had the opportunity of observing people in my neighborhood and getting to count the number of obese persons who passed by. Of the twenty people who passed while I was standing at corner, 7 of them were overweight and fit to be described as obese. It was also interesting to note that 4 of them were men while the rest were women. My observation of the obese persons pointed to the reality of the epidemic. Whereas more Americans stand to be obese, this condition has a negative impact on their health, social wellbeing, work, and on their insurance costs. Obesity and healthcare costs In the United States, researchers have found out that obesity is associated with an array of health complication such as depression. Strine et al. carried out a study of obese persons and they found out that people who have obesity are more likely to be depressed as compared to those who drink of smoke (p. 127). This research pointed to the fact that obesity creates a favorable environment where obese individuals are predisposed to other diseases. As a result of this finding, it is correct to postulate that many Americans are likely to have depression as majorities have a body mass index of 30 and above. Prevalence of obesity can cause cancer in individuals. Research on the prevalence of cancer indicates that a significant number of people with cancer are obese (Berger 129). According to Berger, research reveals that there is a strong correlation between obesity and a number of malignancies such as cancer of the breast (p. 129). Given these findings, there is no doubt that obesity in the United States can pave way for variants of cancer in individuals. This impact is extensive and can affect all age groups because obesity spans a across all the age structures. Obesity can also cause diabetes, especially the type II diabetes. Tsai, Asch and Wadden argued that obesity is strong determination of type II diabetes in children and adults (p. 1651). The study trio carried out a research where they found out that obesity increased body resistance to insulin. This condition was prevalent in adults and children as well. From this research, there seem to be a relation between obesity and diabetes. The overall impact of this association is depicted in increased healthcare cost not to mention a decline in the quality of lives. With an increase in the obesity levels, there is a high likelihood that health cost will soar. Effect of obesity in the workplace The impacts of obesity have made significant inroads in the labor industry. According to Alston et al., obese individuals are more likely to experience reduced productivity while at work (p. 1). At any workplace, the obese persons are likely to experience reduced efficiency at work given their weight. This is an impact that can reduce the efficiency of obese persons in executing their roles at their place of work. With reduced efficiency, obese persons can elicit other negative feelings that may be directed towards them by the employers, and even their colleagues at work. For instance, an obese employees working as a messengers is likely to spend more time moving from one place to another in the course of discharging their duties. This can lead to lateness and possible reprimand from. This can affect the job satisfaction of the obese persons, as well as their performance. In some cases, workers who are obese tend to lose their productivity when they are absent from work (Rossen and Rossen 38). In any working environment, workers are expected to work for a specific number of hours in order for them to qualify for their salary. Nonetheless, obese persons may often take some day out of when attending to health matters. The overall effect of this is reduced productivity, which can affect their ability to targets set for them. In the long run, reduced productivity can make obese worker to perform poorly and even be discharged from their workplace. The cost of employees because of obesity is enormous. According to an article in the Forbes Magazine, employers were losing approximately $ 4 because of obese people who missed coming to work (Herper para. 8). Certainly, this is an immense cost that can put employers into serous losses as result of obesity within its workforce. The above article points to the danger of having many obese people missing from work. Should the number of obese persons increase, there is no doubt that many employers in America will lose a lot of money making the Federal government forego taxes that could have been earned from the working population. Clearly, obesity is of great harm to the labor industry. Impact of obesity on societal wellbeing The impacts of obesity are also felt in the social domain where obese persons continue to increase the cost of having obesity in the society. According to Herper, the costs of having obese persons in any society are enormous and contributing to increase cost of living (para 6). First obese persons are more likely to have poor paying jobs because some people perceive obese persons as lazy and likely to do little as compared to those who are not obese. This argument may sound true given that people may perceive the overweight as lacking the ability to accomplish tasks given to them. In some cases, the obese persons have less chances of being employed. However, this is not the case with individuals who are not obese. The social cost of the obese can also translate to the nuisance associated with obesity. Whereas people should have respect to all people in the society, obese persons are less likely to be considered fairly in any social opportunity. For instance, passengers are likely to complain should they sit with obese persons who may tend to occupy their entire seat and those of adjacent passengers. Some argue that obese persons are also likely to increase the cost of transport as their weight contributes to reduce the number of passengers in automobile or airline jets. In other aspects, social cost of obesity includes discrimination at home and even in the entire society. Children, as well as adults who are obese are likely to be seen lacking the fitness that other have. This can lead to the obese having low esteem that can make them perform poorly in all aspect of life. As Herper confirmed, some parents refuse to take their children to school or social places because of them being overweight (para. 9). In the United States, obesity has been associated with increased rates of mortality both in children and in adult. In recent research carried out by Smith et al, the findings revealed that a significant number of deaths in the United States were mostly observed in individuals with high body mass index rate (p. 38). The research further revealed that most of obese persons had other medical conditions like cancer diabetes and other serious health complications. This is a clear indication that most of the social cost resulting from death can be linked to obesity. In essence, a high number of deaths in the United States can be correlated to the existence of obesity in children and adult. Therefore, death contributes as one of the social costs that are weighing down that by Americans at all levels of the society, most as a result of obesity. In essence, obesity is one of the factors attributed to the soaring level of social cost the Federal government is facing. Obesity and insurance cost Being an obese person does not meant that individuals cannot access healthcare services or subscribe to insurance cover. However, there is an increased cost when obese persons subscribe for insurance covers. Today, many insurers regard obese persons as having high risks and therefore demand more money for premiums (Rossen and Rossen 88). Majority of the individuals who are obese have highly vulnerable exposure to risky incurable diseases like cancer and diabetes type II. As a result, many insurance companies charge obese persons more fees for the premiums because they believe that the obese are more susceptible to diseases which are costly to treat. Insurers view obese persons to be at the same category with people who work in hazardous work setting and thus have a basis for charging high amount of premiums. In the year 2004, most of the insurance companies were charging about 37 percent higher than the normal amount of premium. This charge is high and makes the obese people to incur huge cost of insuring themselves. Today, Obesity plays a significant role in determining how insurance companies price their services. Regardless of how obesity is defined, insurance companies have different ways of determining how the obese people pay for their insurance cover. This is because over time insurance companies have always acknowledged the fact that when dealing with obese clients. There is need to handle them differently lest the insurance company pays for obese individuals an increased cost of insurance cost from their health costs that they incur. Grossman and Mocan affirm that through studies the obesity related medical costs are largely subsidized by their employers (p. 38). For this reason, insurance company stipulates that individuals with extraordinary weight to take a different cover compared to the rest of those covered by the insurance company. High premiums related to high insurance risks such as obesity continue to discourage people from becoming obese. However, some individuals still contend with high premium rate that amount to 50 to 100 percent higher than the premium of health persons. All arguments considered, obesity is expensive to the Americans because it adds cost in all facets of human life. Obesity predisposes individuals to diseases that cost them a lot of money to treat. It also makes individuals to be less effective in their workplace, thus leading to conflicts. Obesity is also a major contributor to social cost especially due to deaths. Most important, obesity makes obese persons to pay 50 to 100 percent more on insurance premiums, which is a heavy price to bear. Given the above costs of obesity, is much being done to avert this epidemic? Works Cited Alston, Julian, M., Sumner, Daniel, A., and Stephen, Vosti, A. “Farm Subsidies and Obesity in the United States”, Agricultural and Resource Economics 11.2 (2007): 1-4. Berger, Nathan A. Cancer and Energy Balance, Epidemiology and Overview .New York: Springer. Grossman, Michael. Economic Aspects of Obesity. University of Chicago Press. 2007 Herper, Mathew. "The hidden cost of obesity." msnbc.msn.com. N.p., 2008. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. . Polednak, Anthony P. "Trends in incidence rates for obesity-associated cancers in the US." Cancer Detection and Prevention 27 (2003): 415-421. Print. Rossen, Lauren M and. Rossen, Eric A. Obesity 101. New York: Springer Publishing Company. Strine, Tara. W., Mokdad, Ali. H.,Dube, Shanta, R., Balluz, Lina, S., Gonzalez, O. Berry, Joyce, T., Manderscheid, R. and Kroenke, Kurt. “The association of depression and anxiety with obesity and unhealthy behaviors among community- dwelling US adults” General Hospital Psychiatry 30(2008): 127-137. Tsai, Gilden, Adam, Asch, David, and Wadden, Thomas, A. “Insurance Coverage for Obesity Treatment”. Journal of American Dietary Association 106 (2006):1651- 1655. Read More