Health Care Reform Update: Saving Money on Health Care by Changing Our Diet
by Alta Price, M.D.This fascinating opinion piece from the New York Times, “Big Food vs. Big Insurance”, suggests that requiring health insurers to take all comers, regardless of pre-existing conditions or their risk of getting sick, gives insurers an incentive to advocate for public policies that will lower health care costs. There are many reasons our health care system is the most expensive in the world (yet we don’t have the best health outcomes), but one of them is we Americans are fatter and have more chronic diseases. From the article:
We’re spending $147 billion to treat obesity, $116 billion to treat diabetes, and hundreds of billions more to treat cardiovascular disease and the many types of cancer that have been linked to the so-called Western diet. One recent study estimated that 30 percent of the increase in health care spending over the past 20 years could be attributed to the soaring rate of obesity, a condition that now accounts for nearly a tenth of all spending on health care.”
Of course, there are many reasons we are overweight, including lack of exercise. But many of our problems in this area are caused by our Western diet, including heavily processed junk food, sugary drinks, bad fats (trans fat will kill you!), fast food, and so on. All of these harmful products are heavily promoted, even to young children, and busy Americans find them more convenient than shopping for and preparing real, whole foods.
Those of you who care about agricultural issues, the environmental and economic impact of factory farming, and getting healthier foods into our schools know how hard it is to take on agribusiness and the rest of the food industry. Wouldn’t it be great if health care reform requiring private insurance companies to spend money on people with chronic illnesses, rather than dropping them or not insuring them in the first place, turned the insurance industry into our ally against the food industry? Read the article and see what you think.
If you live in or near the Quad Cities, you can learn more about the local food movement by attending the 2009 Quad City Earth Charter Summit described below.
2009 Quad City Earth Charter Summit
Saturday, September 26th
Augustana College, Rock Island, IL
Registration 9–10 am Summit 10 am–3:30 pm
Progressive Action for the Common Good (PACG) will present this year’s Quad City Earth Charter Summit, with the Congregation of the Humility of Mary, Augustana College, the Riverboat Development Authority and the Doris & Victor Day Foundation as major sponsors.
Local Food is the theme of the 2009 Earth Charter Summit, focusing on PACG’s Local Foods Initiative, whose goal is to promote and assist in the development of a healthy, safe, sustainable, local food supply for the Quad Cities and to support local sustainable agriculture.
The Summit will include local and regional speakers and informative workshops focused on how we can create locally sustainable agriculture and a local food plan on an individual level and at an institutional level as the result of working together as a community.
The Earth Charter Summit day will also include a delicious local lunch prepared by the Augustana Food Service, which is modeling the practices we are organizing around.
Additional sponsors include Quad Cities Chapter-Buy Fresh Buy Local, Neighborhood Housing Services of Davenport, Quad City Chapter-Sierra Club, Radish Magazine and Iowa Interfaith Power & Light and the Faithful Pilot Café & Spirits.
Registration is $10.00 / $5.00 for students and includes lunch. Seating is limited. Scholarships are available. Register online at the PACG website (scroll down to the article about the Summit and click the link for the registration form).
For more information email Rachel Griffiths or call Caroline Vernon at 563-676-7580.
Alta Price is a
physician practicing Pathology in Davenport, Iowa. One of the original Deaniacs,
she stays involved with Democracy for America, Iowa, and the Quad Cities. Check back every Tuesday for Alta's Health Care Reform Update.
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