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Give the American people the same health care coverage that the lawmakers in Washington are receiving.

With all the bickering, arguments, and politics that is going on in the White House about the health care reform, the one thing that our lawmakers agree on is that they are satisfied with their own health care coverage.  So, if it's good enough for them, why not pass the same coverage to the American people?

Too expensive?  Then they should scale down on their own coverage until it is affordable, then pass the same coverage to the American people.  Doesn't the citizens (American people) deserve the same coverage that their public servants (lawmakers) recieve?  After all, we - the American people - are paying for their health care coverage, anyway.

TUESDAY, March 3, 2009(HealthDay News) -- Every level of society must contribute to strategies meant to make it easier for people to eat a heart-healthy diet, according to the American Heart Association.

"Health problems caused by the U.S. diet extend past what people put on their plates to outside influences and trends in behavior that affect when, what and how much people eat. Multiple factors influence what Americans eat at every state of the life cycle," Dr. Samuel S. Gidding, director of pediatric cardiology at Nemours Cardiac Center of the Alfred I. Dupont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Del., said in an AHA news release Monday.

The statement outlined specific steps that can be used to encourage good eating habits in families, schools, workplaces and communities. For example:

• Patients could be asked to measure their food consumption and then limit the use of sugar-containing beverages, reduce portion sizes, eat more meals as a family, and make time for physical activity.
• Rather than just specific diet counseling, doctors should support patient lifestyle changes and offer positive feedback for success in order to balance negative messages about unhealthy lifestyle-related risks.
• School nutrition standards need to be strengthened, and the food industry needs to reformulate products marketed to children. Efforts to push for healthier standards in schools require the involvement of parents and lawmakers at the local level.
• Longer-term and Web-based workplace interventions are better than one-time-only and printed literature in changing employees' eating habits. Employers should promote, and possibly subsidize, health food choices in on-site cafeterias, vending machines and at meetings.
• Food-labeling laws that require restaurants to post the calorie count of their menu items can help consumers make healthier meal choices.
• Governments can improve access to healthy foods for people with low incomes by offering increased funding for food stamp programs that can be used at farmers' markets, and by dealing with transportation issues that prevent access to healthy food.
• Also, governments could provide subsidies to encourage agricultural production of more whole-grain products, fruits and vegetables, trans fat-free oils, and low-fat dairy products.
• Encourage more research on ways to make healthy foods the preferred choice for consumers. Economic incentives may be one way to achieve this goal.

"The adverse trends in U.S. eating patterns must be reversed. Food choices are influenced on multiple social and environmental levels. With so many consumers eating away from home, we must make it easier to them to choose healthy food in every environment," Gidding said.

The heart association statement was published in the journal Circulation.

Source: Yahoo News

Although I agree that there are some level of influence from outside factors in how we make decisions about our eating habits, I believe in personal accountability.  I decided to post the article above to make people aware that we are being influenced at some level.  With this awareness, it is still your body, your health, your choice - Our healthcare system.  Do your share in reducing the healthcare costs by staying healthy and encourage your loved ones to be healthy.  Be an influence, don't be influenced!

A lot of money have been poured into studies of reducing our health care spendings.  A lot more are being poured every year.  High tech gadgets, like Telemonitors, and high tech software 'solutions' are sprouting to help manage chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease and lung disease.

Ultimately, the only way we can slow down the bleeding of our healthcare system is for us to change our behaviours and commit to a healthier lifestyle.  Yes, I know it is easier said than done - the key words are change & commit.

What if, Medicare combined with private 'health related companies', would invest money on us?  Give us allowance to:
 - buy organic foods (which are a little more expensive, but much healthier)
 - join a gym or physical activities (sports)

What if our employers were given incentives so we can take extra time off from work to actually work out?  Cut down the full time status from 8 hours to 7 hours/day) - an hour a day to work out is plenty of time.  Healthier employees equate to better attendance and better performance.

The allowance we recieve will be used to buy things that will give us a healthier lifestyle - this money will be circulated back to the economy which will begin the stimulus process!  Plus, we will be a little healthier which will ultimately reduce heatlhcare costs!  The next generation will be a little healthier and so on.  Maybe after 3 generations, United States will no longer be the leader of chronic diseases in developed countries.

Ponder on the idea, add to it, then spread it.  We are the answer.