ne of the most influential individuals in the current debate about health care reform is not walking the halls of Congress or any hospital, university or insurance-company skyscraper.
You can find that powerful person in the strangest place, staring back from your mirror.
Consider this blunt and highly unacademic recommendation: Look at that person in the mirror and agree with him or her that, if you don’t get any fatter over the next decade, it probably will bring you $800. We’ll get to the details about that projection later, but first, a few words from health experts at Emory University in Atlanta. Americans are getting fatter more rapidly than ever before, and if that rate continues, 103 million American adults will be obese by 2018. That will result in $344 billion in health care costs attributable to obesity, or 21 percent of all health care costs. In the past 20 years, the national obesity rate has soared from 12 percent to 27 percent.
In Clark County, the statistics are similar. Local health expert Dee Sandquist wrote in a 2008 op-ed for The Columbian that almost two-thirds of local adults are believed to be overweight or obese.
Obesity increases the risk of diabetes, cancer and heart disease. Unlike many health conditions, obesity can be avoided or reduced by the person in the mirror committing to eat better and exercise more.
Connect all of those dots, and the conclusion is clear. All of us — exercising personal responsibility — have a role to play in this health care debate, and it’s downright foolish to ignore the person in the mirror and hold politicians solely responsible for fixing this problem. Unfortunately, Americans seem to be obsessed with health care reform as a political issue, either as President Obama’s chance to excel or as his critics’ chance to create his “Waterloo.”
While they extend that well-publicized conflict, and while the Senate and House wrestle with their reform plans, the average citizen can get the jump on the politician by understanding the data from Emory University and vowing to eat more nutritious food, get the body moving, and avoid both tobacco and excessive alcohol. As baby boomers become retirees, the importance of maintaining or improving one’s health becomes more pronounced. But think also of the possible savings to American taxpayers.
Granted, other meaningful commitments to improved health can be made by large groups. Schools and businesses can offer more healthful selections in vending machines. Employers can provide incentives and resources for exercise programs. Recreation programs can increase outreach efforts. As for politicians, they can make sure legislation pays necessary attention to wellness programs, disease prevention and preventive care. That’s not just the humanitarian thing to do, it’s also fiscally astute.
But when all is said and done, the person in the mirror is the one who must face the ultimate accountability. That’s why it’s called “personal” responsibility.
And what about that $800 you could expect in 2018? Emory experts estimate that, if we can just hold obesity rates at current levels, in 2018 “the U.S. could save an estimated $820 per adult in health care costs … a (total national) savings of $200 billion.” For all the rhetoric and headlines devoted to the costs of health care reform, we wish more attention were paid to the potential savings if Americans resolved collectively to take better care of ourselves.
See you on the hiking trails?
