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Should the Gov't Pay For Injured Man's Wii?
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?"
He should be careful what he wishes for, apparently there might be a risk of ending up like this women:
http://idle.slashdot.org/story/10/04/15/146236/Woman-Claims-Wii-Fit-Caused-Persistent-Sexual-Arousal-Syndrome
Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
I'm not saying they should condone it, but a Wii is probably a lot cheaper than any other form of treatment or medication. Just saying.
Pretty good is actually pretty bad.
It's not medical equipment unless it's covered in ugly, pink "medical grade" plastic and exposed polished stainless steel tubes. Also, it must have an impossible-to-clean membrane keypad. And cost four thousand dollars, and can only be rented for one thousand dollars a month.
Then and only then should the government pay for his rehabilitation tool.
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
Since the Doctor suggested the Wii Fit, then I have no problems with the idea of the Government pay for the Wii Fit. If this were in the US, then I would agree that the Insurance company pay for it.
HOWEVER!
Since the Wii can be used for more than just the physical fitness applications, the Wii itself should not be paid for.
-- Wiccan Army, 13th Airborne Division "We will not fly silently into the night"
He was doing it wrong.
Broke my hip on the ice this winter. When I was in rehab they got me up and forced me to play a stupid bowling game on the wii. I hate video games! They seem to think anything that motivates you to get up and be more active is a good thing. ( Oklahoma, USA)
Who owns your data?
The Wii can be used for things other than rehabilitation. Once his rehab is finished, should he be able to keep his Wii, or should the government be able to auction it off to recover some of the costs?
On the other side is WorkCover Minister Tim Holding
It was Tim Holding who got himself lost back country skiing in rather stupid circumstances last winter. So its wrong for him to oppose paying for a gadget which will get a recovering patient moving without risking his life.
Maybe Mr Jones from Coburg (hey! he's almost a neighbour) should throw himself off Mt Feathertop for exercise.
And Tim, try Lake Mountain. Believe me its your more speed. Harder to get lost.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
...there is more than one way to play...
Winning in a Wii game does not necessarily mean exercising.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Hey, it’s better than the $15000 a “officially accepted” device would cost, that would do the same job.
I say, it is completely irrelevant what the device was “supposed to be’. What counts is:
1. Did it help him?
2. Was it not pointlessly expensive?
And as it looks like that’s a yes, and a yes, I say: If you’d pay a “official” device, of course it should be paid. And you should be thankful that he didn’t take the $15000 device. ^^
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
Because the man can do the same exercises without the Wii, without the game.
Wii Fit is like a cheap personal trainer/motivator. No competent doctor is going to recommend it as a full replacement for a rehabilitation therapist. But they may recommend it as healthy, daily exercise. The same thing can be accomplished by handing the man a pamphlet, except Wii Fit motivates better.
Yes, Wii Fit should be recommended to motivate patients. No, a government shouldn't pay for this "extra motivation".
Except he doesn't need to lose weight, but to perform rehabilitation exercises. Have you even read the title?
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The doctor recommended that I cure my overweightness + bad knees with a elliptical machine (told me to quit running, it's bad for me). Insurance will not pay for the $3000 machine, nor will it pay for a gym membership.
Doctors recommend things that you should do on your own. Doctors prescribe things that are necessary. His doctor only recommended a Wii, he did not prescribe one.
Also stupid because the court case is gonna cost way more than the $300 a wii with wii fit would cost.
he hasn't been to work in four years on the claim that every time he tries to go to work he has panic attacks.
http://www.news.com.au/business/business-smarts/lib-mp-gordon-rich-phillips-wanted-workcover-to-pay-for-wii/story-e6frfm9r-1225861036146
Complicated case? Sorry, but people like this need to either be committed or told to grow a pair.
He certainly does not need a Wi to exercise.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
The problem with medical devices is that their safety is covered by a bunch of international standards. Those things are pretty disgusting reads, and I guess the engineers show their, um, lack of appreciation of the literary quality of the standards in the design of the devices.
The truth is, you can make beautiful medical devices, yes, even those that have embedded processing in them. I think, for example, that GE's patient monitors have some slick industrial design.
A successful API design takes a mixture of software design and pedagogy.
So did the Doctor modify this Wii with a sonic screwdriver, or is it just a stock game console?
reminds me of Roger Ebert's complaint that his insurance would pay $8000 for a bulky piece of crap machine with a keyboard to speak for him that sounded like a bad 60s Sci-fi robot but refused to pay $1000 for a macbook that could do the same thing much better.
The Insurance companies more than likely have a deal with the manufacturers of that bulky, ugly equipment so that they get a kickback on any purchases they support. Insurance companies are not about providing a useful service to their customers, they are about making as much money as possible while paying out the least amount possible.
"The first time I got drunk, I got married. The second time I bought a chimpanzee, after that I stayed sober" Arian Seid
Worker's comp is a form of insurance.
Typically, it also comes with the provision that you cannot sue your employer for negligence, so business gets an enormous perk, and workers get fixed up so they continue to be productive for themselves and their families. Anyway, only complete retard would say that it would be better to be able to sue a company for millions, than pay $300 for a Wii.
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
Title was more for giggles - not aimed at anyone. I work in the work comp realm. The reason why this is a bad idea is solely due to exposure. In the same light as why a blanket gym membership wouldn't be approved, this is not being (or shouldn't be) approved. Rehab needs to be monitored and directed by someone professional. If this guy hurts himself while milking some cow or rabid rabbits (or whatever that game is called) then that injury would be compensable as a consequence of treatment for his injury. Now, IF the Wii was within the office of his therapist there would be any issues as the treatment would be directed and monitored.
You do realize you're typing this on the Internet, which came from ARPANET, which was a military project funded by the government, right?
This signature serves no purpose other than to help you see which posts were made by me.
But, I got hit by a truck and my wife got bored by the treadmill.
We tried gym memberships, at home exercise routines, beach balls, weight benches, etc. The treadmill doesn't exercise many muscles. My wife, who had experienced a small stroke during hearth surgery, had difficulty walking without dragging her right foot, and on occasions she'd stagger. And it was all boring, boring, boring. The beach ball exercise where you put it against your back and then squat to a point your legs make a 90 degree angle, hold it for the count of 10, then stand again, all the while holding the beach ball against the wall, KILLED my knees. Took me months to recover and even just to walk without knee pain.
Then we got a Wii and Wii Plus exercise board. Big difference. shifting your weight while trying to drop the balls through the holes, dodging the soccer balls, riding the bike and finding the flag poles, playing golf, bowling and other Wii fitness activities exercises leg muscles that increased my wife's walking agility like the treadmill never could. I get drenched in sweat trying to find the flags while riding a bike all over an island, or by trying to find the balloons on a beach while riding a Segway.
Running with Linux for over 20 years!
If we get find the government involved in buying video game consoles, the prices WILL go up. This will make a nice experiment. Let's make it so that insurance covers them. We'll have $1000 Wiis before you know it. It will then be called a failure of the "free market".
How do you figure that? The government buys lots of things, and generally in much greater bulk than they could conceivably buy Wii consoles in. Laptops, monitors, pens, paper, bullets, cars....the list goes on and on. Since we're not paying $10,000 for a Dell laptop, or $4 per round of 9mm ammunition due to government purchases, why do you think the Wii would be affected this way?
This also has nothing to do with the free market. Government purchases are just as much a part of the free market as any other purchase, so long as they don't legislate an arbitrary price and force the manufacturer to sell it at that price.
Some bring out the best in others, some the worst. Some bring out far more.