Bad Health Helped Create a “Bad” Health Care System
The stress of paying for health insurance is enough to give you a heart attack. With rates and deductibles increasing, and coverage decreasing, Americans are crying out for the broken health care system to be mended — but it’s not just America. Health care is a concern shared by every other country in the world. Canada, often cited as a shining example of a universal health care system, is plagued with long waiting times for operations, limited access to modern technology, and doctors scurrying to leave the country. Thirty years of government intervention has not fixed their health care problem.
Seventy percent of Americans believe the U.S. health care system is in a state of crisis or at least has major problems, according to Gallup pollsters. The Kaiser Family Foundation conducted a survey in June 2005 and found that over twice as many respondents were more concerned about rising health care costs than they were about the possibility of losing their job or being the victim of a terrorist attack. Twenty-three percent of the respondents reported that they had trouble paying their medical bills even though sixty-one percent of them had health insurance.
Authors of a new book, Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Five Steps to a Better Health Care System (AEI Press, 2005), believe that current tax law, which favors consumers buying low-deductible, low co-payment health plans in lieu of paying expenses outright, has birthed a health care market where there is no thought about cost and wasteful medical practices. Add those factors to the large number of uninsured and underinsured, plus the burden the aging Baby Boomer population is placing on the health care system, it is not difficult to see why Americans are concerned.
So, what can we do about it? We spend over four times as much on health care as we do on national defense. One answer is we take care of ourselves in the first place by becoming more physically fit, avoiding unhealthy lifestyle choices, and eating a healthier diet. Under your doctor’s care, you can begin an exercise program that will help you become more physically fit. Learn how to prepare and eat foods that are good for you and lower the consumption of high-fat and high-sugar foods. Diabetes contributes to the deaths of 1,600 Mississippians each year. Doctors say Type 2 diabetes is preventable by a diet and exercise regimen that results in a five to seven percent weight loss. The following steps might save your life:
Reach and maintain a reasonable weight. Instead of crash dieting, eat less of the food you like. Try and exercise at least thirty minutes a day. Set a reasonable weight-loss goal. A good long-term goal is losing five to seven percent of your body weight.
Make wise food choices. Take a hard look at the serving sizes of the foods you eat. Decrease your meat and dessert portions and increase fruits and vegetables. Limit your fat intake and reduce the number of calories you eat each day. Your doctor or dietitian can help. Keep a food and exercise log. Write down how much you exercise and what you eat.
Be physically active every day. Regular exercise tackles several risk factors at once. It helps control body weight, decreases cholesterol and blood pressure and helps your body use insulin. Walking is one of the best ways to add exercise to your daily routine. Take the stairs rather than an elevator or escalator. Park at the far end of the lot and walk. Walk or bicycle instead of drive when you can.
While the health care system is frustrating, we can take matters into our own hands regarding our own state of health. By applying the principles above, we can enjoy a greater quality of life. In 1 Corinthians 6:20, Paul reminds us, “For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”