Mandatory Insurance and Health Care Has Failed!

The Australian Research Council issued a news release September 27, 2012 regarding obesity in the Baby Boomer population. The initial findings show that Baby Boomers, those born between the end of the Second World War and the mid-1960’s, have the highest levels of obesity of any age group in the country.

In fact, obesity rates among baby boomers are more than double that of their parents at the same age. They also have twice the rate of asthma and hearing loss; triple the rate of diabetes and almost double the cholesterol levels of their parents (age group 53-62). The proportion of baby boomers with three or more chronic conditions is 700% greater than the previous generation.

The reason this information caught my attention is not just the findings, but more importantly, the deeper implications, and conclusions which should be drawn from it.

Australia has had a nationalized, mandatory healthcare system for many years. We have been told, for at least the more than 50 years that I have been alive, that increased availability, and enforced use of, various medical services is what has caused each generation to be more healthy than the previous one. This study shows that claim to be absolutely false. No generation has had more marvelous medical technology available, nor access to it, than the current generation, and yet, our level of health is going down.

I can already hear the counter-arguments:  We are obese because people choose to eat unhealthy foods and refuse to get the proper amount of exercise. I happen to agree that that is true. So, do we now follow our current, as well as a former, First Lady’s recommendations and pass laws mandating how we must eat and how much exercise we must perform each day?

Additionally, obesity was only ONE of the issues. Asthma, hearing loss, and other chronic conditions, are much more tenuously linked to diet and exercise. Why hasn’t our marvelous health care system eliminated them from the earth’s population, as it supposedly has smallpox, polio, and other conditions routinely vaccinated for (this is fodder for a future blog post).

I am NOT advocating getting rid of our healthcare system (remember, I’m part of it, too). My concern is that we now have proof that mandatory healthcare alone does not improve our health. It is time to reconsider, and then remove the mandatory components from health insurance and from healthcare providers, and definitely get the government out of the healthcare industry. This will allow true healthcare reform to occur.

Getting rid of your pain,

Dr. Steven Ray, Chiropractor

Val Vista Chiropractic