Obamacare and Leadership
Did you know that health expenditure accounts for nearly 20% of government spending in the US?
That’s right… nearly one in every five of your tax dollars is spent on treating the sick and infirm. That’s twice the amount spent in most European countries.
And the trouble is the health bill is getting bigger and bigger—and that’s a big stumbling block to the economy getting back on track.
I believe the problem is lack of leadership in some very key areas:
By the way, I know that this is a big and intractable problem. And I know that what I have set out above is probably over-simplified and perhaps sounds glib.
And I acknowledge that there are probably good arguments for different strategies.
Leadership is badly needed, however. No one can argue with that.
Tags: bicycles blog entry eating habits european countries expenditure accounts family members fast food chains food labeling good arguments government spending health bill health expenditure high priority highways intractable problem key areas medical profession obamacare politician stumbling block tax dollars
That’s right… nearly one in every five of your tax dollars is spent on treating the sick and infirm. That’s twice the amount spent in most European countries.
And the trouble is the health bill is getting bigger and bigger—and that’s a big stumbling block to the economy getting back on track.
I believe the problem is lack of leadership in some very key areas:
- first, our leaders in education need to make lessons in ‘how to stay healthy’ a high priority. If they don’t, people will remain ignorant about the importance of good diet and regular exercise
- second, a brave politician needs to push vested interests aside and deal with the problems caused by tobacco, the over-influence of fast-food chains on eating habits and poor or misleading food labelling
- third (and this connects with my last blog entry), workplace leaders need to ensure that workers have the time to exercise, to eat properly, to sleep properly and to spend time with their families to ensure that family members do the same
- fourth, we need to get people out of their cars and walking or on bicycles. These activities need to be safe, so more needs to be spent on a highways infrastructure that can support healthier alternatives to getting behind the wheel
- fifth, the medical profession needs to harness new technologies and effective practises to take some of the cost out of care.
By the way, I know that this is a big and intractable problem. And I know that what I have set out above is probably over-simplified and perhaps sounds glib.
And I acknowledge that there are probably good arguments for different strategies.
Leadership is badly needed, however. No one can argue with that.
Or can you?
Tags: bicycles blog entry eating habits european countries expenditure accounts family members fast food chains food labeling good arguments government spending health bill health expenditure high priority highways intractable problem key areas medical profession obamacare politician stumbling block tax dollars
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