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Obesity is in the news again, as the LA Times reports that in the eight years leading up to 2006, the number of Americans categorized as obese shot up a whopping 37%, causing a $40-billion-a-year rise in health care costs.

Could it be true what health insurance companies have been saying all along? That the lack of affordable health insurance today is due to a rise in health care costs, not due to a blatant manipulation of profits by the companies themselves?

After all, the disturbing truth is that the most fatal, and most costly, of preventable diseases are all linked to obesity, including heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. With insurance companies expected to absorb these costs, their claim that affordable health insurance just isn't possible anymore takes on more meaning.

Then again, the boost in health insurance companies' profits over the last 10 years is pretty good evidence that it's not all our fault in every way.

Such evidence citing obesity as both costly and dangerous is why President Obama wants to focus on preventative care in order to make affordable health insurance finally affordable. Unfortunately, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. And along the same lines, you can show someone how to take better care of themselves, but you can't make them do it.

Opponents to the "preventative care" notion argue that those who don't take good care of themselves should pay more for coverage than those who do. However, opening up this argument to claims of discrimination is a whole different can of worms.