PETA: Veggie health discount?
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By Daniel Barlow Vermont Press Bureau - Published: November 12, 2008
MONTPELIER – The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals dove into Vermont politics again Tuesday as they urged the state's largest private insurance company to offer discounts to vegetarians.
PETA, an animal rights activist organization based in Virginia, sent a letter to the president of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont on Monday saying that the health benefits of a meat-free eating lifestyle should equal cheaper premiums.
The letter from PETA Vice President Tracy Reiman to Blue Cross Vermont President Bill Milnes Jr. links a recent E.coli outbreak in the Green Mountain State from tainted meat as an additional reason that residents should go vegetarian.
"By giving your policyholders a financial incentive to go vegetarian – and penalizing those whose meat-based diets fuel our nation's worst health problems – Blue Cross Blue Shield can save millions of dollars in the long run as your members begin to require fewer cholesterol-lowering medications, chemotherapy treatments, and diabetes drugs," the letter concludes.
PETA's recent antics in Vermont include dispatching naked women to Brattleboro last year – at the height of a debate in town over public nudity – to protest the wearing of animal fur.
And two months ago, the organization asked Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream to consider using human breast milk in their products.
Lindsay Rajt, a spokesperson for PETA, said Tuesday that the organization does not know of a health insurer who offers discounts to vegetarians, but they are hoping that Vermont "pioneers the idea."
Recent studies have shown that vegetarians are less susceptible to certain diseases and other ailments than those who eat meat on a regular basis, Rajt said, although she conceded that not all vegetarians necessarily eat healthily after cutting meat from their diet.
"Even if they were eating a junk food vegetarian diet, they would be helping by not basing their diet on an industry that is cruel to animals," she said.
But it was not clear Tuesday that insurance companies in Vermont could even lower health insurance costs for specific groups because state regulations dictate more equitable treatment.
Along with a "guaranteed issue" law that requires insurers to offer coverage for all persons in the state, Vermont also has "community rating," which stops the companies from making a person pay more for their coverage because of age, location or health condition, according to information at the Web site of the Vermont Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration.
Leigh Tofferi, the director of public relations for Blue Cross Vermont, said for large group plans, those that include more than 50 people, the costs are based on the experience of that pool – meaning if there are vegetarians there who requires less health care than others, that factor is already shown in the premiums.
But that doesn't necessarily mean that Blue Cross Vermont believes that vegetarianism equals a healthier lifestyle. Tofferi said the organization has yet to see a conclusive study that shows not eating meat results in fewer health care problems.
"I just don't think the proposal is workable," he said.
Judy Miner of North Ferrisburgh, the coordinator of the Vermont Vegetarian Society, said that eating a vegetarian diet does not always mean a person is healthier than those who do eat meat. She worried that rating populations for eating habits would be a slippery slope for insurance companies.
"A person could live off of soda and potato chips and technically that is a vegetarian diet," she said.
Miner believes that PETA has done many great things to raise awareness around the vegetarian lifestyle, but added that its outlandish antics over the years may have backfired.
She said there are other organizations that better represent the interests of those who eat a meat-free diet or are concerned about the welfare of farm animals.
"I don't think that they have always been effective," Miner said.
Contact Daniel Barlow at Daniel.Barlow@timesargus.com.
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