You may have been hearing a lot lately about the US Heath Care System and its Siamese twin, health insurance. In the beginning of 2009, around 50 million (NPR/LA Times 3-5-09) people were not covered from the wrath of unconscionable medical costs. The President thought it so important that he held a Health Care Summit with promises to have the system re-vamped by 2010. Well, don't hold your breath.
Health care costs are not a new topic. For decades the idea of re-hauling an escalating out-of-control system has been attempted without success. Why can't they fix it? Because too much money is involved. And your poor health fuels this for-profit health care. Even if you are healthy due to luck & good practices, you still contribute by paying for insurance whether you use it or not.
One example, contrary to what most health experts mention, is my contention that obesity is not costing society more in the long-run. The concept that the higher rate of overall medical costs for obesity (cardiovascular diseases, higher blood pressure, diabetes, early death, etc.) is an economic burden to society is a fallacy. Sure, there is less productivity and maybe some extra costs to businesses, but obesity is actually good for the economy, and that is exactly why it is on the rise.
Consider all that is involved throughout a lifetime of obesity: besides eating more food more often, heavy weights are harder on and go through more shoes & clothes, need extra material for garments, require special stores or sections for larger garments, go through & are harder on furniture, beds, couches and make vehicles work harder, wear out faster and use more gas. There is also the multi-billion dollar weight loss & fitness industry that keeps offering band-aid short-term ideas that work at first, but cannot be kept up over longer periods. Keep also in mind that with medical advances and prescriptions, we can make people live longer, even when afflicted with poor health & disease.
Obesity generates a great deal of added profits, and those who have been in power realize this. The lobbyists & special interests for many industries know that their profits must continue to be maximized, and this is why obesity is not only growing, but starting at an earlier age.
This is just one issue, but you can take your pick of topics like this in health. With this being the reality more often than not, it is going to be very difficult to fix the health care system in any meaningful way. My concern is that the "system fix" will not provide much, if any, better access to the much needed medical care. To top it off, I am further concerned that they will also force us to pay more for it each month.
Several other countries have successful single-payer systems that have become effective over time. The US needs to scrap the current, badly broken for-profit system immediately and model a program after another country that actually has health care for its' citizens. Health care is a human right and all of those who have helped develop advances in this field would turn in their graves if they saw how difficult it is to make this advanced capability a reality for all. 3-5-2009
HEALTHandFITNESS.com 
