It's a way of peddling soda to the health-conscious crowd.

One of the biggest gaps in health care in Humboldt County is in dental care, and the enhanced premium pays dentists better and almost eliminates co-pays.

An accumulating body of evidence suggests that this translates into health benefits for those who consume cocoa or dark chocolate with a cocoa content of 60 percent or more. Benefits have been seen in endothelial function, a measure of blood vessel health, blood pressure, insulin levels, and serum lipids.

Epidemic obesity is unquestionably a health crisis in the United States, and for that matter, in much of the world. But it is a crisis in slow motion, one that has crept up on us over years, and even decades.

Obesity is arguably the gravest public health threat in the United States today.

People covered by Medicare tend to have more health problems than younger people. But many of them can ill afford the medications they need. The result is that they may not take them, allowing readily controllable health problems to evolve into unmanaged crises.