So much for more government health care
A new study for aging healthcare patients shows that overall, it's not the healthcare system failing our older folks, it's the older folks themselves. I know, I know, when you read the article, that isn't exactly what it says, but I like to read between the lines. The heat of the meat is that 15 medical centers ran a four year trial attempting to save medicare money on seniors with chronic illnesses and none of them did.
Overall, it was another failure in the war against healthcare, and the only individuals who showed any improvement were the ones who *gasp* kicked bad habits, got some exercise, and maintained reasonable diets. According to the reporter, the biggest reason these folks hadn't done it before was because they are "set in their ways," whic h I loosely translate into "old curmudgeons." For crying out loud, the guy they illustrated in the story started eating oatmeal for breakfast instead of doughnuts and worked his way up to a couple miles of walking every day. If the average person walks 4 mph, that's 30 minutes of walking.
Sweet jesus, he lost 60 pounds. This isn't anything new. He knew that he had medical problems because of his lifestyle and didn't change anything because he didn't feel accountable to anyone. And that's what pisses me off.
If you are paying for your own healthcare, or even your own insurance, do what you like. But when you start sapping government money, i.e., the thousands of dollars that gets yanked out of my paycheck BEFORE I even get to cash it, then you should be accountable to all the taxpayers in the country. Medicare is a necessary program for the security of our society; I get it. There are people with serious illnesses and serious cash shortages. But I think it is a HORRIBLE place to dump the extra costs of people who refuse to take care of themselves via reasonable lifestyles. In my world, either you play ball, or you get your own damned healthcare. Won't quit smoking? Dropped from medicare. Eat a dozen Krispie Kremes for lunch twice a week? Dropped. Won't go for a walk every once in a while? Dropped. This program is going to disappear and people with REAL needs are going to suffer.
I think that we may not be able to fix this program at all, and that's kinda scary. Hopefully, somebody in an important office will realize the need for a healthcare initiative that doesn't involve medicine. We need to educate people with sound science and nutrition principles, and get back to common sense about the food we eat and the lives that we lead. We need it to be cool to go outside and play games again. We need it to be common knowledge how to make decent meals for pocket change. We need it to be ordinary to be healthy and athletic. I'm not recommending late 30s Germany style of slaughtering people who don't meet standards, but we need some spotlights on the right people, some kind of peer pressure.
When I think of senators and congressmen, I think of people who are in offices and meetings all day, not very active. I also think of people with a lot more money than me who can shop completely differently from the way I shop. Not all of them are fat-asses, so they must get some kind of exercise, but it's not very public apparently. Hell, I can only think of once or twice hearing about Bush out for a jog at Camp David. The biggest challenge to our health care system is going to be making caring for our health chic and popular.
Overall, it was another failure in the war against healthcare, and the only individuals who showed any improvement were the ones who *gasp* kicked bad habits, got some exercise, and maintained reasonable diets. According to the reporter, the biggest reason these folks hadn't done it before was because they are "set in their ways," whic h I loosely translate into "old curmudgeons." For crying out loud, the guy they illustrated in the story started eating oatmeal for breakfast instead of doughnuts and worked his way up to a couple miles of walking every day. If the average person walks 4 mph, that's 30 minutes of walking.
Sweet jesus, he lost 60 pounds. This isn't anything new. He knew that he had medical problems because of his lifestyle and didn't change anything because he didn't feel accountable to anyone. And that's what pisses me off.
If you are paying for your own healthcare, or even your own insurance, do what you like. But when you start sapping government money, i.e., the thousands of dollars that gets yanked out of my paycheck BEFORE I even get to cash it, then you should be accountable to all the taxpayers in the country. Medicare is a necessary program for the security of our society; I get it. There are people with serious illnesses and serious cash shortages. But I think it is a HORRIBLE place to dump the extra costs of people who refuse to take care of themselves via reasonable lifestyles. In my world, either you play ball, or you get your own damned healthcare. Won't quit smoking? Dropped from medicare. Eat a dozen Krispie Kremes for lunch twice a week? Dropped. Won't go for a walk every once in a while? Dropped. This program is going to disappear and people with REAL needs are going to suffer.
I think that we may not be able to fix this program at all, and that's kinda scary. Hopefully, somebody in an important office will realize the need for a healthcare initiative that doesn't involve medicine. We need to educate people with sound science and nutrition principles, and get back to common sense about the food we eat and the lives that we lead. We need it to be cool to go outside and play games again. We need it to be common knowledge how to make decent meals for pocket change. We need it to be ordinary to be healthy and athletic. I'm not recommending late 30s Germany style of slaughtering people who don't meet standards, but we need some spotlights on the right people, some kind of peer pressure.
When I think of senators and congressmen, I think of people who are in offices and meetings all day, not very active. I also think of people with a lot more money than me who can shop completely differently from the way I shop. Not all of them are fat-asses, so they must get some kind of exercise, but it's not very public apparently. Hell, I can only think of once or twice hearing about Bush out for a jog at Camp David. The biggest challenge to our health care system is going to be making caring for our health chic and popular.
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