Safeway has the healthcare answer, but government is in the way.

[HappySqurriel]

MidnightRider85 said:

HappySqurriel said:

MidnightRider85 said:

Well, one problem I see with this plan is that it is immediately biased against poorer Americans because if it is based on risky health behaviors like whether or not a person is obese -- there are a lot of obese poor people because the types of foods they can most afford to buy is often full of sugars, carbs, and other unhealthy things that can lead to unhealthy lifestyles.

While poor people generally favour inexpensive pre-prepared food which is typically unhealthy, many of the most healthy foods are remarkably inexpensive and just require effort to produce healthy and tasty meals. For the most part, if you just look for "Staple Foods" you will find a lot of healthy foods which are inexpensive throughout the year and can account for the majority of your diet.

 

     From what I found from a little research, eating only staple foods can also be an unhealthy activity:

Although nutritious, staple foods generally do not by themselves provide a full range of nutrients, so other foods need to be added to the diet to prevent malnutrition.[1] For example, the deficiency disease pellagra is associated with a diet consisting primarily of maize, and beriberi with a diet of white (i.e., refined) rice.[4]

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staple_food

 

And even at stores like Save-A-Lot, bread and cereal often cost over $2.00 (which can be quite expensive to people in certain income brackets especially if they can't get food stamps where they live).  Getting by on a food budget of $20.00 a week can be quite difficult, and if you only have a food budget that large, chances are you couldn't afford Safe Ways insurance plan.

An individual can not live entirely on staple foods, but the majority of a person's diet can be made up of staple foods and their daily cost for food can be less than the cost of a single (inexpensive) instant meal. A couple of times in my life I have been forced to live off of less than $3 per day for food, and its not hard but you don't get the same (excessive) ammounts of meat, dairy and processed products that make up a lot of people's diet and eat most of their food budget.