As Congress contemplates health care reform measures that will almost certainly devolve into a single payer health care system funded by the tax payers, I can’t help but think about the Russia of old.   A land where people may have hated the jobs chosen for them, but they did have job security.  A land where citizens were frustrated by a general sense of lack, but their neighbors certainly were not faring any better.  

Russia was a country where many people had poor diets and drank themselves into oblivion with cheap plentyful vodka, but at least their health care was free.  Their health care may not have been good or fast, but it was a free benefit provided by the government.

Today America has some of the best health care services in the world and also some of the most costly health services in the world.   Who’s to blame for that?  It is a complicated matter, but  without question many hospitals, specialists and drug companies are making way too much money and doctors don’t do enough preventative medicine.  Clearly the health industry companies perform a public service and should earn narrower profit margins and be more civic minded than other types of ’for profit’ corporations.  

However, the American public must also assume its fair share of responsibility for their present predicament.   Of the 2.5 million annual deaths in America, nearly half of those could be prevented if the people simply lived healthier lives.   Think about all the health care services that could have been avoided with increased personal responsibility in America.    Let’s use a new studyfrom PLoS Medicine to try and quantify this:

1. Smoking: 467,000 deaths.
2. High blood pressure: 395,000 deaths.
3. Overweight-obesity: 216,000 deaths.
4. Inadequate physical activity and inactivity: 191,000 deaths.
5. High blood sugar: 190,000 deaths.
6. High LDL cholesterol: 113,000 deaths.
7. High dietary salt: 102,000 deaths.
8. Low dietary omega-3 fatty acids (seafood): 84,000 deaths.
9. High dietary trans fatty acids: 82,000 deaths.
10. Alcohol use: 64,000 deaths.
11. Low intake of fruits and vegetables: 58,000 deaths.
12. Low dietary poly-unsaturated fatty acids: 15,000 deaths.

Some of these common areas can be combined to come up with some mind blowing numbers.   45% of the deaths can be attributed to poor dietary choices alone!  While smoking deaths are half of what they were in the 1950’s, food has taken over as a huge killer (and cost driver for health care services).  Smoking still kills 20% of Americans every year, so let’s not take our eye off of that one.

Are we going to wind up like Russians, but instead of vodka, will Americans continue to swill unhealthy food while watching screens (TV’s, PC’s, Cell Phones) most of the day and night rather than engaging in physical inactivity? 

I hope that America will return to an era of personal responsibility and that we won’t hand over our entire health care system to the government.  I do hope the government starts working to better educate the public on healthier living and lifestyles and even places “unhealthy lifestyle” taxes on unhealthy junk food, as well as increasing taxes booze and cigarettes.  

Maybe we can even get the geniuses on Madison Avenue to come up with a campaign to promote a healthier America.  Seems like the least they can do after making hundreds of millions of dollars selling the public harmful food, booze and cigarettes.

On that note, I think I’ll go ride my bike.