It's going to be difficult for me to boycott everything Japanese...

[firecat]

...but if this report is true, I feel like I should.

http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2008/04/diversity-outlawed-in-japan.html
Excerpt:

To stem Japan’s “soaring obesity,” the health ministry has mandated that all waistlines among its 56 million workers over age 40 be below “regulation size” of 33.5 inches (for men). Any company failing to bring its employees’ weight under control — as well as the weights of their family members — will be fined up to 10% of its earnings by the government.

Comments

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I read that this morning, and I'm equally horrified. One of the things that's very clear to me though, is that one of the reasons they CAN get away with this is that have nationalized healthcare. Which is something that I wish we had, except when governments behave like this.

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

Nationalised healthcare doesn't cause stupidity like this. New Zealand has single-payer health care, and nothing of the sort has ever even been raised as a possibility here, let alone passed.

Insurance-based health systems like in the USA are just as capable of this kind of silliness -- I've heard of so many people who can't get insurance at all because of "pre-existing conditions" that it just strikes me as unworkable. It takes but the stroke of a policy pen to create a waist measurement above a certain number to be a "pre-existing condition" and then poof, no healthcare unless you pay through the nose for it.

To make it clear, I do not endorse or agree in any way with what the Japanese government is doing or how it is going about this. All I'm saying is that it's not the fault of nationalised healthcare.

[firecat]

It takes but the stroke of a policy pen to create a waist measurement above a certain number to be a "pre-existing condition" and then poof, no healthcare unless you pay through the nose for it.

In the US there is in fact such a pre-existing condition - it's a BMI higher than a certain number. Which makes about as much sense as a waist size, in terms of predicting current future health problems.

So far if you belong to a large enough company you can still get coverage if you have a BMI higher than 30, but forget it if you belong to a small company or try to get individual coverage.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Huh. I've always known that I can't leave Kaiser since nobody else (other than straight Medicare) has to cover me, but I've always thought of it being because of all the things wrong with me. Now it could be my weight.

Kaiser and Medicare have spent $2M on me in the last 25 years, but not a bit of it has to do with my weight.

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

Our way's not perfect, but so far I like it better. Fucked if I'm moving to Japan, though.

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's the fault of nationalized healthcare, just that it's easier to enforce.

It's true--I can't get private health insurance in the US. Instead, I can get "high risk pool" health insurance from the state for the tune of $800/month. I'm just glad I have employer-based health insurance.