On
September 11, 2008, the U.S. budget deficit reached an all-time high
of $9,682,116,996,293.84.
Servicing this debt requires around $500 billion annually, give or
take a few billion. And like the addict who needs another fix, we
continue to spend. This year, experts estimate that an additional
$410
billion
will be added to the big fat American deficit. Moreover, because of
the rocky economy, less revenue from taxes may cause these numbers to
rise.
The
United States is currently spending 16
percent of its gross domestic product on healthcare. This figure will
probably expand in tandem with the expanding waistlines of overweight
and obese Americans, whose numbers
now total two-thirds of adults and one-third of our offspring.
Surplus weight results in
health problems that translate into additional medical costs.
Consequently, the direct and indirect economic
costs of
the rising numbers on the bathroom scale are sobering. Individuals,
insurers, employers, government programs (including Medicaid and
Medicare) and county, state and federal governments pay for direct
costs. And as most individuals and employers know too well, insurance
premiums are rising. The average annual premium for a family of four
is over $12,000.
Indirect
costs are harder to measure yet just as real. They reflect the loss
of income resulting from absenteeism, sick days, restricted activity
and premature death.
I wrote about this issue in an article titled "Political Promises, Healthcare And Our Big Fat American Diet" that appeared September 3, 2008 on basilandspice.com and included a summary of the solutions to the healthcare dilemma proposed by the two presidential candidates. Go here for the full article.
McCain
proposes a $5,000 tax credit to help uninsured families afford
coverage. He also proposes taxing employer-subsidized medical
insurance. McCain believes that improved management of the healthcare
system will trim costs.
In
contrast, Obama’s priority is obtaining coverage for the 45 million
uninsured Americans at an estimated annual cost of $65 billion. Like
McCain, Obama assures voters that better management of the healthcare
system and cost controls can lower the annual insurance premiums to
an affordable level of $2,500 for a family of four.
Both
of these candidates agree that the healthcare system needs attention.
Although they disagree on the means, both want citizens to have
access to affordable healthcare. Without being drawn into the merits
of either candidate’s proposals, we can focus on three fixes that
can help us become more fiscally and physically fit (FIT):
F:
Fix
the medical model. Instead of reimbursing physicians and hospitals
$250,000 for a single heart surgery, fund wellness and prevention
programs for 1,000 people at $250 each. That’s the perspective of
Dr. Nick Yphantides,
author of My Big Fat
Greek Diet and the
poster child for what an individual can achieve when lifestyle
changes occur. Once a big man (he weighed nearly 500 pounds) with an
even bigger heart, Dr. Yphantides now weighs 237 pounds. He uses his
personal example with his patients and members of the community to
promote healthy lifestyles even though it would be more lucrative to
focus on the treatment of medical problems arising from lifestyle
choices.
I:
Intervene
in the lives of individuals to cut through denial. Alabama
is experimenting with a stick rather than a carrot. State employees
will be fined $25 if they fail to make lifestyle changes that address
health and weight issues. Although most of us prefer a carrot to a
stick, some of us may need the sting of a stick to wake us up.
T:
Tackle
the issue of fitness as a community. We need to change the
environmental cues that encourage us to overeat and underexercise
into ones that encourage us to eat more healthfully and exercise
regularly.
Communities can adopt successful
group weight-loss programs such as the Nevada County Meltdown,
where over 1,000 people lost nearly four tons in eight weeks. Or
communities can introduce Dr. David Sabgir’s model, the Walk
with a Doc
program in Lewis Center, Ohio. Each Saturday at 8:30 a.m., Dr. Sabgir
and other physicians and medical-care providers walk with about 175
to 200 patients, family and friends.
How I cast my ballot once inside
the voting booth this November is a private matter. Publicly,
however, I have no problem sharing my ideas on how we can enhance the
health and well-being of friends, family and neighbors. As a
by-product, we can reduce the cost of healthcare and help lower the
national debt.
My own medical cost-containment
program is to lead a healthful lifestyle to render expensive medical
care and prescription drugs unnecessary. And my tongue-in-cheek goal
is to die a natural death without the help of a doctor.
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