IV 
107TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 474
Expressing the sense of the Congress that private health insurance companies 
should take a proactive role in promoting healthy lifestyles, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 19, 2002
Ms. MCCARTHY of Missouri (for herself and Mr. RYUN of Kansas) submitted 
the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the Congress that private health 
insurance companies should take a proactive role in pro-
moting healthy lifestyles, and for other purposes.
Whereas Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy 
Thompson acknowledges that $270,000,000,000 in health 
costs are caused by preventable diseases, including 
$183,000,000,000 for heart disease alone, and has called 
current policies of insurance companies ‘‘wrongheaded’’ 
for not doing more to encourage people to stay healthy 
to prevent expensive illnesses; 
Whereas obesity increases the risk of illness from more than 
30 medical conditions, including heart disease, cancer, 
stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and diabe-
•HCON 474 IH 
tes, which account for 2⁄3 of all deaths in the United 
States; 
Whereas 61 percent of adults in the United States 
(120,000,000 people) are above their target weight, and 
13 percent of children and adolescents in the United 
States are obese or overweight, a figure that has tripled 
since 1980; 
Whereas from age 50 to 70, those who do not perform 
strength training lose a quarter to a third of a pound of 
muscle every year and gain the same amount in body fat; 
Whereas weight training is proven to increase bone density 
and reduce osteoporosis among men and women over 50 
years old; 
Whereas if the more than 88,000,000 inactive adults in the 
United States began regular exercise, national medical 
costs would decrease by more than $76,000,000,000 each 
year; 
Whereas on June 20, 2002, President George W. Bush 
launched the Healthier US fitness initiative to promote a 
healthy lifestyle and encourage people in the United 
States to increase their physical fitness; 
Whereas the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 provides tax in-
centives for taxpayers who are obese, but not for those 
who are active and healthy; and 
Whereas providing incentives for exercise and strength train-
ing would help more people become active and healthy 
and would decrease national medical costs: Now, there-
fore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That—
•HCON 474 IH 
(1) the Congress commends Secretary of Health 
and Human Services Tommy Thompson for his ef-
forts to encourage private health insurance compa-
nies to take action to encourage people in the United 
States to lead active lifestyles; 
(2) it is the sense of the Congress that private 
health insurance companies should—
(A) do more to encourage people in the 
United States to lead a healthier and more ac-
tive lifestyle to prevent expensive and painful 
illnesses; 
(B) provide discounted premiums to those 
who exercise regularly; and 
(C) encourage frequent screening for dis-
eases that are easily treatable in their early 
stages; and 
(3) the Congress applauds private health insur-
ance companies that are already taking these ac-
tions.
Æ