And another thing …

Trimming health-care costs. Just when it looks as if America’s health-care system will perpetually ignore preventive strategies, here comes news that the largest health insurance company in North Carolina will offer comprehensive coverage to prevent and treat weight problems.

Obesity prevention and early treatment can stave off more expensive problems, such as heart disease and diabetes. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina notes that two-thirds of Americans are considered overweight, so it will pay for four visits annually to prevent and treat that problem.

The strategy of checkups and early intervention is far more cost-effective than the emergency room care and heroic surgeries that drive up costs for everyone. We hope insurance companies are closely watching this promising North Carolina experiment.

Forward march. The U.S. Defense Department can hardly deny that many gays and lesbians serve ably and honorably in the nation’s armed forces. Yet that’s what the government tries to do under a sham policy known as “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

As an Army nurse, Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer was a Bronze Star winner in Vietnam. She had 26 years of service and was the chief nurse for the Washington state National Guard from 1986 until 1992, the year she was kicked out for acknowledging her sexual orientation during a security clearance interview.

Her high-profile case brought attention to the military’s ban on homosexual members and created a controversy that greeted President Clinton when he took office. His administration’s response was the current hypocritical policy under which it’s OK to be gay in the military if you promise to lie about it.

A Republican gay-rights group, the Log Cabin Republicans, is now suing the Pentagon to overturn the policy. The stated purpose of the suit is to protect a soldier’s constitutional rights. An added benefit could be to affirm honesty as an integral value of the armed forces.