Washington lacks the will

It's become apparent that Washington lacks the political will to bring about real, meaningful and comprehensive health care reform. After all, most politicians there receive large campaign contributions from insurance companies, drug makers and others who have a vested interest in keeping things at their current status quo, so naturally, they're not exactly eager to bite the hand that feeds them. No matter that the majority of doctors and their patients are clamoring for single payer health care, politicians will never have the will to bring about the necessary changes that will ensure that everyone has fair and equal access to health care, which I regard as a civil right, not a privilege or a perk of employment. The very real fact is that on average, employers must pay around $14,000 or so a year for health care for each of their employees. Think of the savings if employers didn't have to do this. Think of the stimulus to the economy if employers weren't saddled with the high cost of paying for health care for their active and retired employees. Unfortunately, even with all the sensible arguments for single payer health care, I don't think that Washington will ever be able to muster enough political will to truly overhaul our badly broken health care system. They are determined to keep private insurers in the picture and the Republicans are doing everything they can to shoot down the public health care option being floated by Democrats, and I'm afraid that they will ultimately succeed in doing so. Even if this were, by some miracle, to succeed, I doubt that it's something that my employer would offer because it'd probably be too expensive anyway and I probably couldn't buy it on my own as an individual policy for the same reason. So I am stuck with minimal insurance that carries a high deductible and high co-pays under a small regional hospital based insurance carrier. Obama has asked several hospitals, medical providers and big insurance companies to lower their charges over a ten year period, but I don't think my carrier will be subject to this because of how small they are compared to big national companies like Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Humana and Anthem, to name a few. So I will continue to either have to pay most of my own medical cost out-of-pocket or stop seeing doctors and stop taking care of myself to save money. It's a shame to have to make these kinds of choices, but in this tough economy, which isn't likely to recover anytime soon, I have to put my health on the back burner in order to be able to keep the roof over my head and food on my table and bills paid. And I am probably in the majority of people out there who've put their health at risk by not seeing doctors because they can no longer afford to. It's all so counterproductive, and yet, without the political will in Washington to create real change, the health of this country will continue to suffer because they are so in the back pockets of insurance and pharmaceutical companies that they won't do anything to jeopardize their big campaign contributions from them. Washington works for those with the loudest voices and the deepest pockets, not the average American who just wants a fair shot at justice. It's a shame that things have developed this way, but that's how it works, and we the people are ultimately made to suffer the consequences.

THE FAT AMERICAN
Part of the very real problem with health care in this country is the obesity epidemic plaguing this country. American waistlines are expanding rapidly, especially among children, putting our people at risk for serious diseases that are expensive to treat. I see this constantly wherever I go and it makes me want to scream. My place of employment has a 56% rate of morbid obesity among our workforce and unfortunately, those who have this problem don't seem intent on doing anything about it. I see serious heavyweights all the time who are costing people like me in the minimal insurance that we currently have. I suppose some of them have honestly tried to lose weight and have failed, and I can just imagine how daunting it must be to try to lose a lot of weight, as witnessed in watching many seasons of NBC's The Biggest Loser. Those folks tried dieting and failed and they regarded being on the show as their last chance at regaining their health. Sure, the show puts those folks through some pretty hellish workouts and challenges, but those who prevail ultimately end up losing weight and keeping it off, because they know the gift that they've been given by being able to work out with the best trainers in America. I'm sure it's tough once they come home and have to face real world temptations, but I was looking at a book today called "Eat This, Not That" that makes it easy to make better food choices, whether in the grocery store, at a fast food restaurant or at the ice cream parlor. I consider a book like this to be an indispensible guide for folks who want to learn how to eat better without having to worry that living in the real world makes losing weight and keeping it off impossible. Of course, food is just a part of the battle. You have to exercise. There is no magic pill to make you thin. You have to get your body burning calories, and most folks hate exercise, but I find it easier working with a trainer who keeps me on track. I'm lucky that I found one that I already knew from the get-go, since he's also my physical therapist who spent months rehabbing my left knee before he became my trainer. Having someone to keep you accountable makes it so much easier to exercise. Sure, I still have a love/hate relationship with exercise, probably always will, but the gals I work out with push me to new heights and we've formed a bit of a bond as "workout buddies", which makes it so much easier when you've got friends you work out with. Working out with women who are so much younger than me both frustrates me and brings out my competitive side and makes me work harder than I would if I were just going at this alone. But I am lucky in that my trainer is very reasonably priced, I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have the good fortune to find someone I both really like as a trainer and who I can afford. I know that most folks aren't that lucky, so employers need to step it up and do more to offer wellness and weight loss programs to get their employees to lose weight and get healthy. An ounce of prevention, as they say, is worth a pound of cure. Once our country adopts this old adage as its philosophy, I've no doubt that we will turn things around, but it's going to take our collective will to get it done, because Washington won't do it for us. So we must do it ourselves via a grassroots movement that can overcome the atrophy that so often grips Washington. The good of the many outweighs the good of the few.......or the one.