Multimillionaire banker and GOP candidate is slammed for saying obese people should be forced to pay MORE for health care as it’s ‘a personal choice’ for which there should be ‘CONSEQUENCES’

The banking magnate running for a Senate seat in the U.S. dairy region is facing a backlash in the health care industry after claiming that obese people choose to be fat and should pay more for health care.

Eric Hovde, who is campaigning to unseat Democrat Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin, has come under fire from health professionals after a video surfaced of him blaming obese people for a lack of personal responsibility during his last run for the seat in 2012.

“It’s a personal choice,” he emphasized during a conversation with WisconsinEye“Okay, that’s what you want to do, you’re going to be obese, your health care is going to be more expensive.”

“If they suddenly realized that they were going to pay more for their health care by consuming huge amounts of soft drinks or fatty foods every day and not exercising, they might change their behavior patterns.”

The CEO of Sunwest Bank was already under fire for comments he made last time around blaming single mothers for lacking “morals and ethics”, and his comments on obesity drew scorn from healthcare professionals.

But his comments about obesity during his campaign for the 2012 Republican nomination have resurfaced as health care takes center stage

He became embroiled in a bitter feud with the sitting president after she tweeted a photo of herself as a young girl in the hospital with a pre-existing condition that nearly bankrupted her family in the years before Obamacare.

“Personal behavior plays a role in any chronic disease, but obesity is as heritable as height,” says Professor Melanie Jay of the NYU Langone Comprehensive Program on Obesity Research. Daily beast.

“There are many reasons, but it is not the person’s fault that they developed obesity.”

Hovde has been a staunch critic of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) since its introduction under President Obama, blaming it for driving up insurance costs for ordinary families.

The debate over its future looks set to play a key role in the race for the White House, with Donald Trump vowing to dismantle it if elected.

And the problem exploded Saturday in Wisconsin, where 68 percent of adults were overweight when Baldwin tweeted a photo about herself as a young girl in the hospital with a pre-existing condition that nearly bankrupted her grandparents.

“If my opponent wins in November, he could be the decisive vote to repeal the ACA and undermine health care for millions of Americans who depend on it,” she wrote.

Hovde immediately clapped back and reminded her that he has been living with multiple sclerosis for more than 30 years.

“I’m not going to let you lie and spread fear at this point. Our health care system needs reform, but I will always protect coverage for people with pre-existing conditions,” he stressed.

But he has yet to abandon his 2012 solution to what he called an “explosion of type 2 diabetes right now.”

“You know, we’re taking away people’s responsibility for their own health,” he said.

‘If they suddenly realized that they were paying more for their health care by consuming huge amounts of soft drinks every day, or eating fatty foods and not exercising, they might change their behavior patterns. .

“It’s a personal choice, but there have to be consequences for those personal choices.”

Oprah Winfrey hosted an hour-long special on obesity earlier this month, telling viewers: “The biggest thing I hope people come away with is knowing that (obesity) is a disease, and it’s in the brain.”

Hovde has suffered from Multiple Sclerosis for more than 30 years, but has spent a lot of time on his personal fitness, such as during this campaign stop in a Wisconsin lake last month

The American Medical Association has considered obesity a clinical disease for more than a decade, a point emphasized by Oprah Winfrey when she hosted an hour-long special earlier this month: Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution.

‘It is well established that the conditions of overweight and obesity are complex, chronic disease conditions and not character flaws, so they must be managed accordingly,’ physician Dr Jen Aston told the programme.

“Oh, I love that, Dr. Jen, it’s a disease, not a character flaw,” Winfrey noted.

And Hovde’s call for obese people to pay higher premiums was labeled as discriminatory by medics working in the field.

“This person clearly has no credibility whatsoever when it comes to health care policy,” says Dr. David S. Seres, MD, director of medical nutrition at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

“It would be like charging higher costs to people who develop cancer or have a heart attack due to genetics, or the polluted environment, or the abundance of unhealthy food and lack of access to healthy food, such as the current environment we live in. where many people live.

“This would be very simple: blaming the victim.”

“We have a very obesogenic environment,” Professor Jay added.

‘And it interacts with people’s genes and that’s why people gain weight over time.

‘Willpower doesn’t really play a role.’