Universal Healthcare and the Waistline Police
- by Dr. Paul Hsieh, MD

Excerpt:

"Imagine a country where the government regularly checks the waistlines
of citizens over age 40. Anyone deemed too fat would be required to
undergo diet counseling. Those who fail to lose sufficient weight could
face further "reeducation" and their communities subject to stiff fines.

Is this some nightmarish dystopia?

No, this is contemporary Japan.

The Japanese government argues that it must regulate citizens'
lifestyles because it is paying their health costs. This highlights one
of the greatly underappreciated dangers of "universal healthcare." Any
government that attempts to guarantee healthcare must also control its
costs. The inevitable next step will be to seek to control citizens'
health and their behavior. Hence, Americans should beware that if we
adopt universal healthcare, we also risk creating a "nanny state on
steroids" antithetical to core American principles..."

Full article:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0107/p09s01-coop.html

Dr. Paul Hsieh is co-founder of the organization Freedom and Individual
Rights in Medicine (FIRM)

www.WeStandFirm.org