This AM on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Chuck Todd chimed in on Mika's hardline on junkfood and healthcare. The discussion was about personal choices in diet, exercise, behaviors like smoking & drinking negatively impacting health and causing lifestyle disease.
Who should pay?
Who should pay if someone smokes cigarettes for 40 years and develops cancer or COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)?
Who should pay if someone eats too much salty food, like chips and processed meats like bologna and hot dogs (or corned beef/pastrami) and develops hypertension?
Who should pay if someone consumes more calories than they burn by overeating in relation to their amount of exercise?
Who should pay for illnesses that are clearly the result of diet & exercise choices?
Most chronic illness is caused by lifestyle choices. And most of our healthcare dollars are spent on preventable disease! Diet and exercise. Smoking, drinking, overeating, eating foods high in calories, fats, sugar and salt with no little or no nutritional value. Indolence. A lack of exercise. And at the crux of this is the old-fashioned notion of mental wellness. Having a positive and healthy mindset helps make good lifestyle choices.
My solution is simple. Tax those behaviors that are unhealthy and give tax credits to those behaviors that are healthy. Because we want to reward good behavior and move people away from behavior that's ruinous to our individual and collective health. And yes, we are our brother's keepers. When our brethren get fat and lazy they stop being happy and productive members of our community.
This is my response to a weekend frontpage diary that used an elaborate equation and an elegant argument regarding healthcare reform. http://www.dailykos.com/...
Real healthcare reform must include individual accountability and access to proactive physicians and healthcare teams who are paid for pre-emptive intervention. Who will not get paid if the patient teaching does not include diet & excercise, lifestyle choices!
In conclusion. Tax those behaviors we want to see less of. And give ta-credits or some other kind of reward for behaviors we want to see more of. Immediately stop taxing fresh produce, 100% whole grains, unadulturated dairy, . Immediately add a 'sin' tax to highly processed and packaged comestibles that are obviously detrimental: foods high in sugar, salt, & fat; sodas, alcohol, tobacco, sugary treats & cereals, high sodium-high fat snacks.
In conclusion, government should reimburse physicians and health care teams for patient-wellness teaching and follow-up. Government should pay for psychological services for those who want help with modifying their negative behaviors. Insurance companies will have to follow suit and pay for practitioners who work to keep our population healthy in mind, body, and spirit. That's real healthcare reform.