KTC Guest posted on August 31, 2009 12:54
No one has any doubt that the healthcare system in America is broken. It works for a few wealthy medical entrepreneurs and leaves the rest of the country scrambling to pay bills or worried about insurance costs. I want to step away from the healthcare crisis and talk about the health crisis - something very few people seem to be discussing in the midst of this reform movement.
First, why are medical costs so high in this country? Is it because we are the most unhealthy country in the developed world? Americans are fatter, more cancerous, more diabetic, and suffer more cardiac conditions than anyone in the world, which comes at a great price; but is anyone in this debate asking why? Instead of addressing lifestyle issues, we turn to doctor's opinions, lap band surgeries, drugs and miracle pills. Healthcare in this country addresses neither of those singular issues, health of the individual or the type of care that fixes conditions rather than masking symptoms. This national debate is about money; it is about making insurance affordable so unhealthy Americans can afford to go to the doctor and get pills to fix diseases their lifestyle induced, or surgery to correct conditions exercise could have fixed. It is about the state mandating that the taxpayers foot the bill for a complacent citizenry ordering science to fix our sedentary, fast food nourished lifestyle and I for one am not willing to pay more tax off of my labor to perpetuate such a system.
Here is what it would take to get me behind a healthcare reform.
1) At the root of any discussion about reform needs to be the issue of diet. Stop subsidizing an unsustainable food system based on cheap corn. Start subsidizing small farms that grow fruits, vegetables, and animals the right way. Make nutritious food available and affordable to the citizenry. Educate them - start early in the schools. Regulate the junk food industry - get it out of the schools.
2) Never forget the importance of exercise. Next to diet, this is the most important factor in healthy living. Encourage people to exercise - build parks and pools. Hold races and picnics or anything that gets people out from behind a computer or up from in front of the TV.
3) Use the the current medical system as a last resort and for emergencies. If I'm in a car wreck, I want to go the hospital. We have some of the best emergency care in the world and I have no problem trusting those men and women to take care of me. But running to a hospital for every bump, scrape and cough is ridiculous and drives up the cost of care. Complacently asking your doctor to fix all your health issues is irresponsible, expensive and unnecessary.
4) Allow research to be performed on remedies that can't be patented. There are a number of promising therapies for serious illnesses that aren't possible to patent. The quest for profit has squelched plenty of good scientific research; although there is less profit to be made, there is no better way to provide affordable healthcare than using remedies that don't cost thousands of dollars per IV or pill.
I know that healthcare is expensive. I know that there are people that, no matter how hard or how much they work, they will not be able to afford comprehensive coverage. I think having a government option (i.e. public schools) is beneficial to a nation overall. I would honestly rather see my tax dollars go to providing care for a single mother and her 4 year old unable to afford privatized insurance who were in a car crash than to a billionaire big-wig who swindled the US economy and whose only real punishment is a bailout check . . .