Originally Posted by
Ngchen
What do you all think about the admittedly somewhat crazy idea of having various HMOs fund cycling infrastructures in whole or in part? As strange as this sounds, it might actually make sense for the HMOs since increased cycling leads to decreased obesity and illness, and therefore equals less cost for the HMO. IMO it would be interesting to crunch the numbers (IIRC I saw an article yesterday about the staggering cost in dollars of obesity on the health-care system) to see whether it would make sense or not.
I think that's a brilliant idea!
Overuse of automobiles has other health costs besides obesity and illness. Most obvious are the car crashes that cost 40,000 lives a year and millions of injuries. Pollution from cars is also a major factor in asthma and other lung diseases, and may even cause cancer.
I don't think that HMOs and other insurers would (or should)
directly fund bike facilities. But, like other corporations, these companies set up non-profit
foundations that grant funds to health related causes. It seems that these foundations could funnel money into local or national bike facility projects.This might be a good way for them to support exercise and reduction of cars as preventive measures.