Prescribe a Bike program in Boston

[cvcalhoun]

I do wonder about the effectiveness of a program for low-income people that requires a doctor’s visit to get started, though. Even assuming the visit is free under Medicaid, taking the time off from work and getting to the doctor’s office may be a big barrier to entry for low-income people. Given that we don’t require a doctor’s note for far more hazardous activities than biking–driving, for example–I don’t know why it should be required for this.

@KLizotte 82066 wrote:

“Perhaps the oddest thing about Prescribe-a-Bike is that it starts at the doctor’s office, yet its aims and functions are not strictly medical. Any low-income patient is eligible to receive a $5 membership from a physician, so long as the person doesn’t have a medical condition like a seizure disorder that could make biking dangerous. The program’s costs are being borne by the city, rather than any health insurance provider.”

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2014/04/09/prescribe_a_bike_boston_medical_center_has_a_new_prescription_to_fight_obesity.html

[culimerc]

The poor are not the only people who are obese. And besides, if any physician can do it, eventually *everybody* gets medical treatment one way or another.

[cvcalhoun]

@culimerc 82099 wrote:

The poor are not the only people who are obese.

Yes, but low-income people are the only ones eligible for this program.

@culimerc 82099 wrote:

And besides, if any physician can do it, eventually *everybody* gets medical treatment one way or another.

Unfortunately, this isn’t really true. Many of the poor get medical treatment only in emergencies, and then from an emergency room that is more concerned with patching up the immediate problem than with looking at long-term health.

[Emm]

My boyfriend is convinced that soon this will evolve into doctors being able to prescribe bike riding, and our FSAs covering the purchase of bikes.

I’m doubting it, but we can dream The federal agency a friend worked for gave everyone $400 as a health incentive (only to be used on things like gym memberships, bikes, treadmills, etc), and she was able to use it to buy a Nintendo Wii and a Wii fit board, so I guess it’s in the realm of possibilities…

[Greenbelt]

My grandfather had a prescription from his physician, written in proper Rx pad and signed in full officialness, for “Up to 24 ounces of beer daily, as needed, not to exceed 12 ounces within any 4 hour period.”

He of course showed it off to all his friends, who held him to it, kept it in his wallet for decades. When it became illegible, he got it “refilled.”

Kept him from drinking too much. He lived to 94.

So I guess non-standard prescriptions can be very helpful in the right circumstance.

[lordofthemark]

@cvcalhoun 82072 wrote:

I do wonder about the effectiveness of a program for low-income people that requires a doctor’s visit to get started, though. Even assuming the visit is free under Medicaid, taking the time off from work and getting to the doctor’s office may be a big barrier to entry for low-income people. Given that we don’t require a doctor’s note for far more hazardous activities than biking–driving, for example–I don’t know why it should be required for this.

If I read the item correctly, yu don need a doctor’s note to bike, you need one to get the subsidized bike share membership. given that its costly to the city to provide, it seems reasonable that they want it focused on folks who have health issues that make biking particularly desirable (yes, I know the case could be made that anyone’s health will benefit)

[cvcalhoun]

The story seems to suggest that the doctor merely needs to say that your health won’t be impaired by biking. (For example, if you have a seizure disorder that would make biking dangerous for you, you can’t participate.) The doctor doesn’t need to say that you have health issues that make biking particularly desirable.

My fear is that the need for a doctor’s note will put the program out of reach for many of the low-income people who could most benefit from it. After all, if you don’t otherwise go to a doctor, the cost of going to one to get a note will likely exceed the savings from the program. We don’t treat biking as so hazardous that you require a doctor’s note to bike. So why should you need one to get subsidized biking if you are low-income?

@lordofthemark 82399 wrote:

If I read the item correctly, yu don need a doctor’s note to bike, you need one to get the subsidized bike share membership. given that its costly to the city to provide, it seems reasonable that they want it focused on folks who have health issues that make biking particularly desirable (yes, I know the case could be made that anyone’s health will benefit)

[lordofthemark]

@cvcalhoun 82411 wrote:

The story seems to suggest that the doctor merely needs to say that your health won’t be impaired by biking.

Correct, I missed that. I dunno, I guess its in part so they can position this as a public health program to anyone who challenges it. “Why are we giving out free bike share memberships to people who don’t even get a check up regularly?” I mean it really is a bad idea to never go to the doctor, and I am pretty sure Mass not only has extended medicaid as encouraged by the ACA, but they had something much like the ACA even earlier. It was named after a governor of the state, but I forget which one – not Dukakiscare, or Patrickcare. Something else

[dasgeh]

@Emm 82367 wrote:

My boyfriend is convinced that soon this will evolve into doctors being able to prescribe bike riding, and our FSAs covering the purchase of bikes.

I’m doubting it, but we can dream The federal agency a friend worked for gave everyone $400 as a health incentive (only to be used on things like gym memberships, bikes, treadmills, etc), and she was able to use it to buy a Nintendo Wii and a Wii fit board, so I guess it’s in the realm of possibilities…

If we get a doctor’s note, can we use sick leave to go on long bike rides?

[Rootchopper]

Fun fact: the MUP along the Charles River in Boston was named after Dr. Paul Dudley White, a well known cardiologist who was Ike’s doctor. http://www.eot.state.ma.us/default.asp?pgid=../common/downloads/bikemaps/dudley&sid=about

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