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CEO of Whole Foods Says The Solution for US Healthcare is to Not Need Healthcare aka The Solution to Healthcare is to Shop at Whole Foods

excelsiorlef

excelsiorlef

Bad Praxis
Member
Oct 25, 2017
73,316
Whole Foods CEO John Mackey says the key to keeping people healthy in the United States is for people to eat better and live healthier lives.

"I mean, honestly, we talk about health care. The best solution is not to need health care," Mackey told Freakonomics Radio host Stephen Dubner in an episode released on Nov. 4.




"The best solution is to change the way people eat, the way they live, the lifestyle, and diet," Mackey says. "There's no reason why people shouldn't be healthy and have a longer health span. A bunch of drugs is not going to solve the problem."

Americans are not taking as good care of their own bodies as they ought to be, Mackey says: "71% of Americans are overweight and 42.5% are obese. Clearly, we're making bad choices in the way we eat," he says. "It's not a sustainable path. And so, I'm calling it out."
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I love when rich people who could pay for any major surgery out of pocket talk about how people should just not get sick.

www.cnbc.com

Whole Foods CEO John Mackey: The 'best solution' is to not need health care and for Americans to change how they eat and live

When it comes to reforming health care in the United States, Whole Foods CEO John Mackey says the "best solution" is for Americans to eat better and change their lifestyle.
www.cnbc.com www.cnbc.com
 
Dark Knight

Dark Knight

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,271
Lol not to mention those who can't afford healthcare most likely can't afford to shop at Whole Foods.
 
Hecht

Hecht

Too damn tired
Administrator
Oct 24, 2017
9,731
Love when people say we should just eat healthy then charge $10 for broccoli.
 
Static

Static

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
6,108
Physical fitness and a healthy diet is a luxury that costs some mix of time and money. Poor people are usually strapped for both.

And people who are in excellent physical shape still need healthcare. Go talk to a sports medicine specialist.
 
TheMadTitan

TheMadTitan

Member
Oct 27, 2017
27,213
Healthcare is only healthcare when it's a commodity to be bought and sold. So yes, we don't need healthcare, we need the right to live healthy.

Which means nuke the health insurance industry. Everyone is covered for everything, paid for by taxes. If anyone wants superfluous or expedited non-emergency service, then they can pay X a month for health insurance.
 
Classy Tomato

Classy Tomato

Member
Jun 2, 2019
2,514
I love how out of touch rich, privileged people are.

It's a good thing we don't put this kind of people in governmental positions... right?

*deep sigh
 
sphagnum

sphagnum

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
16,058
"It's not a sustainable path. And so, I'm calling it out."

Wow, so brave! Thank you.
 

Deleted member 33533

Banned
Nov 17, 2017
12,864
I got in an terrible car accident but I shop at Whole Foods so I didn't even need to go to the hospital. My body is just that strong now.
 

Deleted member 86105

Banned
Nov 18, 2020
1,408
Look at this USA medical bill from 1950. No insurance.

c71jIiwl.png


Translated to about $80 in today's dollars. This same procedure would cost at least $1000 without insurance today, or with insurances that have high deductibles.

There's nothing stopping us from returning to that past except for an extreme amount of deregulation that has allowed hospital and insurance administrators to profit handsomely from people's lives.

Even the people in the best of health suffer from ailments, and are often one healthcare bill away from bankruptcy. I can't tell you how many people today will refuse to get necessary treatments because they can't afford it. It's heinous. Of course an Amazon subsidiary couldn't care less about the well-being of the poor and middle-class.
 
Rover

Rover

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,417
Whole Foods sells a lot of junk food, too, in case anyone was considering canceling their health insurance to shop there.
 

Nola

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
8,025
That's some wild shit to say in the middle of a fucking pandemic.

Yeah, I'm sure eating some non-GMO oranges will save me from catching a disease, or, you know, getting hit by a bus or some shit.
 
i_am_ben

i_am_ben

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,012
He is correct to an extent as a lot of countries' health systems are looking for more ways to improve the health of their population so that more costly health interventions are not necessary.

but.... you actually need a functioning and affordable health system too.
 
Booshka

Booshka

Banned
May 8, 2018
3,957
Colton, CA
I'm sure he will be on Bill Maher's show so they can tag team, and tell poor people to stop being fat and sick and pay outrageous prices for healthy food.

cuz it's so easy and there aren't any social conditions influencing public health and diet.
 
IggyChooChoo

IggyChooChoo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,230
IIRC, most health care services are consumed by 1) children, 2) pregnant women, and 3) old people, especially at the very end of life. These categories of need are not even good targets for paring back costs via healthy lifestyles/obesity solutions in the first place.
 

Nola

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
8,025
i_am_ben said:
He is correct to an extent as a lot of countries' health systems are looking for more ways to improve the health of their population so that more costly health interventions are not necessary.

but.... you actually need a functioning and affordable health system too.
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He isn't though.

Promoting better health isn't a substitute for health insurance. Let alone a better path forward. No amount of healthy food is going to stop you from aging or having some catastrophic and unavoidable incident happen that puts you into the system.
 

Deleted member 86105

Banned
Nov 18, 2020
1,408
In other news, Whole Foods CEO doesn't give a fuck about the wellbeing of his employees:


www.cnbc.com

Whole Foods to cut health-care benefits for 1,900 part-time employees starting next year

Less than 2% of its workforce, or 1,900 employees, will no longer be eligible for medical coverage in 2020.
www.cnbc.com www.cnbc.com

And if god forbid a Whole Foods employee needed emergency care and was immediately transported to the nearest hospital, they would pay up to $13,300 out-of-pocket:

Oza3Yqz.png


AKA bankrupting them, because full-time workers make only $15 per hour baseline. Fuck you, John.
 
Last edited:
Vareon

Vareon

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,818
"The best plan to take care of those who are sick is don't get sick, I'm a wise genius".
 

Deleted member 4346

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
8,976
This is the endgame, then. Just stay healthy or die, no need to subsidize health care for the many.
 
Jeremy

Jeremy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,639
Framing poor health as a result of poor decision making is disgusting... especially in suggesting that one only need to buy the right products to be healthy.
 
Rosebud

Rosebud

Two Pieces
Member
Apr 16, 2018
43,512
I mean, there are 2 different things here

1 - Organic food like that isn't accessible
2 - People really should try to eat better (as cutting soda, avoiding fast food, sugar...)
 
Commedieu

Commedieu

Banned
Nov 11, 2017
15,025
same for poor people. they just need to not be poor then we wouldn't have homeless people.
 

Dis

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,937
Seriously? Ignoring the way their stores charge insane prices, and ignoring the fact that eventually everyone will need some form of medical help even if it's later in life, why is it so hard for people to realise that one of the worst things that can be done with medical issues is ignoring them and waiting until it's too much of an issue to ignore anymore, I point this out because a lot of Americans can't just go to the doctor and have any issues checked or treated whenever they want to due to the insane cost they know is involved even with insurance, so instead issues that could he fixed easily early on are left to get worse and to a stage that they become serious problems that may not be fixable or treatable by that point, america needs to get up to date with this shit, because the fact people defend a system and find excuses for it, that has people often having to decide between having cancer checked and treated or making sure their family aren't bankrupt is disgusting.
 
oreomunsta

oreomunsta

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
4,341
Just change the name of the store to Whole Ass, because that's all this CEO is sharing with people
 
badatorigami

badatorigami

Member
Dec 5, 2019
493
Fuck this guy.
He's obviously (to us) rich enough to live a much healthier lifestyle that many are not able. Being healthy requires time, money, and resources.
Asshole obviously doesn't have any food allergies either, based on his company's egregious pattern of mislabeling food allergens so badly that the FDA addressed a letter specifically to his bitch ass.

https://thecounter.org/fda-whole-foods-john-mackey-allergen-labeling-warning-letter/

You can live as healthily as possible and die of an allergic attack from buying mislabeled food at this bitch ass' company.
 
element

element

Member
Oct 27, 2017
920
Totally misguided on his part.

1. If food was that important to health. Lower prices.
2. If food was that important to health. Put stores in lower income areas to combat food deserts.

I get eating healthy is a start to better long term health, but access to preventative care is critical.
 
Mivey

Mivey

Member
Oct 25, 2017
17,820
Of course, it's true that ideally you want people to have a healthy and balanced diet, exercise and generally live healthier to avoid needing health care as much. But this answer isn't just ignoring that a lot of people have a hard time buying food at all, it ignores that free health care also allows things like regular check up which in turn reduce people's long term need to get treatment and which allow people to understand how their current behaviour is affecting their health, to get themselves checked for possible risk factors and change their diet and lifestyle accordingly, etc. Everyone should be able to see a doctor without having to worry about money at all.

This answer couldn't be more out of touch.
 
hateradio

hateradio

Member
Oct 28, 2017
8,748
welcome, nowhere
Akira said:
In other news, Whole Foods CEO doesn't give a fuck about the wellbeing of his employees:


www.cnbc.com

Whole Foods to cut health-care benefits for 1,900 part-time employees starting next year

Less than 2% of its workforce, or 1,900 employees, will no longer be eligible for medical coverage in 2020.
www.cnbc.com www.cnbc.com

And if god forbid a Whole Foods employee needed emergency care and was immediately transported to the nearest hospital, they would pay up to $13,300 out-of-pocket:

Oza3Yqz.png


AKA bankrupting them, because full-time workers make only $15 per hour baseline. Fuck you, John.
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That's insane.
 
Fleck0

Fleck0

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,447
The idea that Whole Foods is focused on health is laughable.

They carry more vegan junk food alternatives than most mainstream stores but they sure don't give a fuck about your health.
 
TacomaSCDisaster

TacomaSCDisaster

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,969
Every day it becomes more and more clear just how detached from reality the rich in this country are.

This is legitimately a "let them eat cake" level of statement.
 
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