Healthy Health Care
There’s so much that could be done easily to make Americans healthier – much healthier; quickly – that it underscores the degeneracy of our leadership, at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, over the past quarter century.
First, the degree of the problem is clear in the global statistics. The United States spends far more per capita than any other country, and yet we rank 36th in overall health care, 43rd in infant mortality, and 82nd in teen pregnancy.
When then-First Lady Hillary Clinton bollixed up attempts to reform our health care system, the medical industry which profits hugely from the status quo, ran commercials which lied about reform, especially about the system in neighboring Canada. Those lies have held sway since. The truth is that Canada pays about half of what we do for medical care, and all of their health indices are twice as high as ours.
Step one in reform is to extract employers from the health coverage loop. They don’t need to be there.
Step two is to expand Medicare to include every citizen. They don’t get everything right, but their overhead is 5% compared to 35% for some insurance companies.
Step three, ban smoking in public nationwide, including in most outside areas. It would save 100,000 lives and $150 billion a year.
Four, teach nutrition and hygiene starting in pre-school. Also include exercise programs, and alternative stress-reduction practices like yoga and meditation. Provide comprehensive education about human beings – physical, emotional, and spiritual – as soon as the children are old enough to comprehend.
Five, declare childhood obesity a form of parental neglect – or child abuse – and have county and local health authorities intervene.
Six, end all advertising of prescription drugs in the general media.
Seven, ban all fast food advertising on all programming targeting minor children.
And eight, everyone cut down television viewing from 37 to 20 hours a week.
As Barack Obama noted in the third presidential debate in 2008, health care should be a right in our country. Indeed, it is a baseline measure of a civilized society.
©2010 SetonnoteS
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