Health Care Crisis and Solutions

The health care crisis in America is nothing new. Unfortunately, health care has become such a big problem that we can’t afford to postpone it any longer. With inflation rising faster than ever and the baby boomers starting to retire, we can’t afford to waste one more day. There have been many politicians who tried to tackle the health care crisis but many of them failed. President Obama is the latest of them and is not doing so well either. If Obama and his team can’t fix this problem by the end of his term, many Americans will not be able to afford health care.

Politicians who tried to fix the United States health care system failed because they didn’t attack the problem at the root. One of the main root causes of the health care crisis is the pharmaceutical industry. Its obsession for profits and bad business practices has cost Americans billions. The pharmaceutical industry is not interested in curing diseases because there is little profit to be made. It likes to keep people sick so it can make as much money as possible. This system that it used to keep people sick can only go on for so long. Sooner or later its system will collapse because people won’t be able to pay for their health care. This is exactly what is happening right now.

President Obama and his administration are doing little to help the health care system because they are not tackling it at the root. One of their ways of solving the health care crisis is to spend more money. This means that the US will have to borrow more money because it is basically broke. Borrowing more money to help solve the health care crisis may be okay 10 years ago but not now. The US can’t afford to borrow any more money. Its national debt has already pass a critical point in which it may not be able to function as a country. Instead of spending more money, the US government should concentrate on reducing the cost of health care. This scenario is unlikely because they don’t want to make the pharmaceutical companies angry. Pharmaceutical companies are very powerful because they have enormous amounts of cash. They are one of the top contributors for politicians. Many of the laws involving health care are influenced by the pharmaceutical industry before they are signed by the President. Hopefully, Obama is smart and brave enough to not let the pharmaceutical industry influence his decisions.

National Health Care Spending

• In 2008, health care spending in the United States reached $2.4 trillion, and was projected to reach $3.1 trillion in 2012. Health care spending is projected to reach $4.3 trillion by 2016.
• Health care spending is 4.3 times the amount spent on national defense.
• In 2008, the United States will spend 17 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on health care. It is projected that the percentage will reach 20 percent by 2017.
• Although nearly 46 million Americans are uninsured, the United States spends more on health care than other industrialized nations, and those countries provide health insurance to all their citizens.3
• Health care spending accounted for 10.9 percent of the GDP in Switzerland, 10.7 percent in Germany, 9.7 percent in Canada and 9.5 percent in France, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Source: nchc.org.

If Obama and his administration really want to solve the health care crisis, they should

• Make drugs cheaper like in other countries.
• Make it a requirement for Americans to take health and wellness classes in school. Teaching Americans to eat healthy at an early age will be one of the major keys for reducing health care. If Americans eat healthy, most of them will not have to worry about getting heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis, cancer or other chronic diseases.
• Pay American doctors like Chinese doctors. Unlike American doctors, Chinese doctors get pay for keeping their patients well.
• Support organic farmers by giving them subsidies (financial assistance). This will reduce the cost of organic food and people will be able to afford it.
• Support healthier school lunch programs.

The suggestions above may not become a reality, because if Obama made them into laws, it would destroy the pharmaceutical and conventional food industry. This will make them angry and they will fight back causing more problems for Obama. Relying on politicians to solve the health care crisis is not going to happen. If we want to solve it, we need to stop letting the food and drug industry control our lives. We need to educate ourselves about health and wellness, and learn how to depend on nature again. By doing this, we will improve our health tremendously and our immune system will be able to fight nearly any diseases, even cancer. By taking responsibility for our health, we will tremendously reduce health care spending.

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