Do We Want Coffee Benefits in Our Healthcare?

With tongue in cheek, writer Allysia Finley has publicly requested that President Obama include real health-promoting benefits - such as coffee - in his Obamacare. While not the only health-boosting suggestion she makes, she does highlight coffee in the title of her recent WSJ article. In recommending that the government provide coffee to all, Finley states that studies have proven coffee is one of the best preventive treatments. This is because its use decreases incidence of “depression, Alzheimer’s disease, type 2 diabetes and sleepiness.” 

Not only does she want ALL employers to provide the freshly brewed coffee, but she demands that the workers get to pick the type of coffee they want, regardless of expense. After all, it does make workers “more productive and pleasant.” She requests that even Mormon employers be forced to provide coffee for workers, because 99% of the adult population has drunk coffee at some point, and such a high figure means Mormons have partaken of the brew.

She pokes fun at the GOP because they will probably complain that forcing the Mormons on the coffee issue constitutes a violation of freedom of religion, even though most Mormons have drunk coffee. Finley also requests that the government provide free fitness club memberships, free massages weekly to reduce stress, yoga classes, plus free salad bars in the cafeteria. Though Finley is using humor to make a point about big government and GOP objections to it, she does have a point about the preventive aspects of healthcare. The enormous 2000-page Obamacare plan should at least provide preventive healthcare, or otherwise it’s just medical care, not healthcare. Since it’s true coffee has so many health benefits, no healthcare plan is complete without it. How else can workers ingest so many antioxidants in a delicious beverage that both relieves stress and enhances energy at the same time?