Health Care Reform

Okay, this post doesn't deal directly with baking or bacon, but since I do speak about making food yourself instead of relying on processed, packaged shlock, I feel I should weigh in on this important, pressing national debate. I have long felt that a huge problem with the unhealthy health care system is the fact that there seems to be no incentive for anyone to improve their health on a personal level (other than that it feels better to be healthy). Or maybe I should state it this way: there is no deterrent for living an unhealthy lifestyle. Eat too much, don't exercise, ignore the little problems until they become big ones, whatever - there's a pill or surgery or other procedure that can fix it, right? Let's have some more Twinkies, wash them down with a mega-gulp-sized Coke, and watch some more TV.

I'm certainly not saying that those things shouldn't be available to people, or that I never indulge in any junk food, or that I don't veg out in front of the TV (Top Chef is on tonight!). But I do try to balance it with healthy eating for the most part, exercising nominally, and getting regular checkups. But my while my reward for this is tangible in that I'm pretty healthy, I'm also paying for all those who aren't doing anything for their health by ever-increasing insurance premiums and so forth. And nothing in the proposals that I have read discusses this problem.

However, Michael Pollan to the rescue! He wrote about this very issue albeit from a different perspective (I realize my perspective is an ego-centric "how does this affect ME?" not "I feel badly for people who aren't healthy"). Here is a link to the NY Times Op-Ed piece: Big Food vs. Big Insurance.

What do you think? 

Comments

[la peca]

I was actually pondering this very thing today! I had just gone shopping for my yummy grass-fed beef and other organics (blah, blah, blah). I was pondering comments that various family members have said, such as: "fresh fruit is too expensive"; "I can't afford to buy vegetables"; "Fast food is just cheaper." As I pondered these comments (they seems to always haunt me), I started thinking about the massive amounts of medical bills that accumulate…trips to the doctor…unknown reasons for total and complete meltdown by their kids, blah, blah, blah.

In the end…it's cheaper to eat healthy. I can't understand why spending an few extra hundred dollars a year (give or take) is such a drama, when you add up all the crazy amounts spent on health insurance, medical bills, and medications.

Just recently, a known-overweight-diabetic chatted about the trip to Dairy Queen, McDonald's and another fast food just after having the blood work drawn for the weekly doctor check-up. Ummm…really??

Point being: really good article!!!!
Okay…coming off soap box. :D

[BeckyH]

Well, there are limits to what constitutes cheaper. In one NY Times column there was mention of buying organic milk at the Greenmarket for 14 dollars a gallon.
Many people never really see the medical costs of their eating habits, if they have health coverage at all. A minor co-pay and prescription coverage can make the out-of-pocket expenses quite low.
But for many of the people who use public plans the downside is that they live in poor urban areas, often without a way to get the real food that they may not have a way to cook, if they have time between having two jobs and relying on public transit. If the grocery store doesn't carry produce and the McDs is down the street and the kids are hungry, where do you go? If the stove doesn't work and you live in public housing, how long does it take to get it fixed? What tastes better, right out of the microwave-fried "chicken" lumps or barley pilaf?
Eat a lot of good food and you like it. Eat a lot of crap and you stop being able to taste the real thing.
(There's an idea for a reality show-a dozen non-cooks have to learn how to cook and taste real food. For the finale they have to make a meal for all of their families)
It took decades for the downside of smoking tobacco to percolate far enough into public consciousness that it was recognized as a bad thing. I don't see eating right to move any faster, especially as eating can't be considered and entertainment or a luxury.