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Should the Gov't Pay For Injured Man's Wii?

Posted by kdawson on from the if-the-wii-fits dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Politicians in the Australian state of Victoria are currently locked in a debate about whether an injured man should be able to claim the cost of a Nintendo Wii for rehabilitation purposes under worker's compensation. The man's doctor apparently recommended he use the Wii Fit exercise device, but both insurance companies and the government itself have blocked the payment and have now ridiculed the idea as paying for video games. But with the Wii Fit increasingly being used for rehabilitation purposes internationally, does the man have a fair case?"

3 of 222 comments (clear)

  1. Re:It's probably cheaper than the alternatives by AnotherUsername · · Score: 0, Troll

    If a doctor(never mind whether the doctor is reputable, he is a doctor) recommends that I do heroin to help with my stubbed toe, should the government and insurance companies pay for it, simply because some doctor says that it would help rehabilitate me? All that your plan would do is increase doctor shopping. People would stop going to actual doctors and would go to fly-by-night doctors in order to get a cheap Wii. It would actually increase fraud, not weed out most of it.

    Any exercise that this man could do on a Wii Fit is an exercise he could do without it. If he ends up getting one, I can only hope he is forced to give it back once he has been fully rehabilitated.

    --
    I don't like Linux. This doesn't make me a troll.
  2. Universal Healthcare by IdiotBoy · · Score: 0, Troll

    Not to put too fine a point on it, but these are the kind of debates in which you are forced to engage if you treat "health care" as a right.

  3. You have got to be kidding by ITJC68 · · Score: 0, Troll

    Give me a break. Seriously this guy expects the government to buy him a video game system? Don't let this spread to the US as there will be an idiot somewhere who will try this. At this rate people are going to expect the government to buy them a phone (oops already does in US) a house (already does in a sense in US) and now a Wii. They keep this up and I will have to get "injured" and not be able to work anymore so I can sit on my A$$ and get all these freebies. I have worked over 24 years I deserve it. They can go to work now and support me.