No health benefits from breast-feeding

monster · 10-28-2010, 08:17 AM

according to the IRS

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/27/bu...east.html?_r=1

nuts. absolutely insane.

Shawnee123 · 10-28-2010, 08:36 AM

Seconded.

glatt · 10-28-2010, 08:38 AM

I see their logic. They view breast milk as a healthy food, not medicine. They also won't let you buy a frying pan with your medical flexible spending account money so you can cook up some healthy salmon.

monster · 10-28-2010, 08:48 AM

But breast-feeding is indicated in reducing the risk of breast cancer.......

glatt · 10-28-2010, 09:00 AM

Yeah, if it were up to me, I'd include them. It's not like it's going to bankrupt the government. And you buy them at a drug store, not a grocery store. But I agree with their point that breast milk is food, not medicine.

monster · 10-28-2010, 09:23 AM

But you're not buying the milk. you're buying the apparatus to help you breast feed

Shawnee123 · 10-28-2010, 09:31 AM

Just as buying artificial turf because your kid is allergic to grass. Acupuncture. Swedish Penis Enlarger.

And this (from IRS website Pub 502 for 2009):

Meals
You can include in medical expenses the cost of meals at a hospital or similar institution if a principal reason for being there is to get medical care.

You cannot include in medical expenses the cost of meals that are not part of inpatient care.

footfootfoot · 10-28-2010, 09:55 AM

Obviously the infant formula lobby can kick the living shit out of the breast pump manufacturer's lobby with one arm tied behind its back.

Did you really think this has anything to do with logic and reason, or were you being
(choose all that apply)
a)Rhetorical
b)Ironical
c)sarcastical

Pico and ME · 10-28-2010, 10:01 AM

This could have been a perfect example of the incentives Clod was talking about in another post.

Hmmm, me thinks the formula industry whispered in their ear.

EDIT: Goddamn it Foot, if only I'd pushed enter sooner.

glatt · 10-28-2010, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by monster

But you're not buying the milk. you're buying the apparatus to help you breast feed

Fish is healthy for you. Should a fishing pole be covered?

I'm not arguing against pumps, because I think they are great, but a pump is there for convenience. The breasts work just fine for delivering the food directly to the baby. The pump is there so the baby can get the same healthy food even if the mom has to be somewhere else.

Other baby convenience items like diapers are not covered.

If breast feeding lowers risks for cancer, then that's a good argument, but then you also need to make sex toys for men be covered, because masturbation lowers risks for prostate cancer. Maybe an old dude just needs his Real Doll to get off.

It's interesting that programs to help you stop smoking are covered, so there is precedence for paying for things that lower your risk of cancer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

Just as buying artificial turf because your kid is allergic to grass. Acupuncture. Swedish Penis Enlarger.

Well I don't know if any of those are actually covered, maybe acupuncture, but there are some interesting things that are covered, like high spf sunscreen.

monster · 10-28-2010, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glatt

Fish is healthy for you. Should a fishing pole be covered?.

Well, is the act of fishing good for you? as in, does it have documented health benefits for the entire group of people who undertake that activity vs those who don't?

Pico and ME · 10-28-2010, 10:09 AM

Breast feeding, I do believe is the ultimate health benefit that millions of babies just aren't getting. If breast pumps were 'incenitfied', then maybe more women would be inclined to do it and then maybe more babies would grow into healthier adults.

glatt · 10-28-2010, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by monster

Well, is the act of fishing good for you? as in, does it have documented health benefits for the entire group of people who undertake that activity vs those who don't?

Quote:

Originally Posted by glatt

If breast feeding lowers risks for cancer, then that's a good argument, but then you also need to make sex toys for men be covered, because masturbation lowers risks for prostate cancer. Maybe an old dude just needs his Real Doll to get off.

glatt · 10-28-2010, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pico and ME

Breast feeding, I do believe is the ultimate health benefit that millions of babies just aren't getting. If breast pumps were 'incenitfied', then maybe more women would be inclined to do it and then maybe more babies would grow into healthier adults.

I agree. This gets into the same idea as Clodfobble's posts to create incentives for healthy food. Blueberries should be cheap, and ramen noodles should be expensive.

Shawnee123 · 10-28-2010, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glatt

~snip~
Well I don't know if any of those are actually covered, maybe acupuncture, but there are some interesting things that are covered, like high spf sunscreen.

The astroturf thing was in the article and the acupunture was on the IRS website. The Penis Enlarger was completely a product of my vivid imagination.

10-28-2010, 08:17 AM	#1
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	No health benefits from breast-feeding according to the IRS http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/27/bu...east.html?_r=1 nuts. absolutely insane. __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

10-28-2010, 08:36 AM	#2
Shawnee123 Why, you're a regular Alfred E Einstein, ain't ya? Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 21,206	Seconded. __________________ A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones who need the advice. --Bill Cosby

10-28-2010, 08:48 AM	#4
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	But breast-feeding is indicated in reducing the risk of breast cancer....... __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

10-28-2010, 09:23 AM	#6
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	But you're not buying the milk. you're buying the apparatus to help you breast feed __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

10-28-2010, 09:31 AM	#7
Shawnee123 Why, you're a regular Alfred E Einstein, ain't ya? Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 21,206	Just as buying artificial turf because your kid is allergic to grass. Acupuncture. Swedish Penis Enlarger. And this (from IRS website Pub 502 for 2009): Meals You can include in medical expenses the cost of meals at a hospital or similar institution if a principal reason for being there is to get medical care. You cannot include in medical expenses the cost of meals that are not part of inpatient care. __________________ A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones who need the advice. --Bill Cosby

10-28-2010, 08:38 AM	#3
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	I see their logic. They view breast milk as a healthy food, not medicine. They also won't let you buy a frying pan with your medical flexible spending account money so you can cook up some healthy salmon.

10-28-2010, 09:00 AM	#5
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	Yeah, if it were up to me, I'd include them. It's not like it's going to bankrupt the government. And you buy them at a drug store, not a grocery store. But I agree with their point that breast milk is food, not medicine.

10-28-2010, 09:55 AM	#8
footfootfoot To shreds, you say? Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: in the house and on the street-how many, many feet we meet! Posts: 18,449	Obviously the infant formula lobby can kick the living shit out of the breast pump manufacturer's lobby with one arm tied behind its back. Did you really think this has anything to do with logic and reason, or were you being (choose all that apply) a)Rhetorical b)Ironical c)sarcastical __________________ The internet is a hateful stew of vomit you can never take completely seriously. - Her Fobs

10-28-2010, 10:01 AM	#9
Pico and ME Are you knock-kneed? Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Middle Hoosierland Posts: 3,549	This could have been a perfect example of the incentives Clod was talking about in another post. Hmmm, me thinks the formula industry whispered in their ear. EDIT: Goddamn it Foot, if only I'd pushed enter sooner.

10-28-2010, 10:09 AM	#12
Pico and ME Are you knock-kneed? Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Middle Hoosierland Posts: 3,549	Breast feeding, I do believe is the ultimate health benefit that millions of babies just aren't getting. If breast pumps were 'incenitfied', then maybe more women would be inclined to do it and then maybe more babies would grow into healthier adults.

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