“We Want To Lower Health Care Costs so it’s Affordable for All”

© Jacquelyn Johnston, M.Ed. Diabesity Coach

That was the first thing I heard on the news this morning. And I thought, what a good idea. While our Acute Care Systems are under overhaul, wouldn’t it be a good time for us to help the government help us?

We were ordering lunch at a Vancouver restaurant by the sea when the subject of our two Acute Care systems (don’t you think this a better way to describe the service than “Health Care”?) came up, and most of us could see that there were many points in common. Most people say off the cuff that Canadians have to wait longer for care than our friends south of the border. However, dinner-time chat often reflects the experience of one or two amply-insured friends we know who have flown south for diagnostic procedures because the wait was too long.

I recently attended a conference in Vancouver on this topic, where guest speaker John Goodman PhD, of the U.S. National Center for Policy Analysis—Consumer-Driven Health Care—told us that , in fact, our systems are 80% the same! His powerpoints illustrated this, and he suggested that it would be a good idea for us to learn from each other for the remaining 20%.

So I thought, what can we learn from each other? In Canada there are no uninsured. Period. However, we also have Extended Health Care insurance, which not everyone has. I won’t go through the exhaustive comparison study—you can look it up on the internet yourself.

However, I do think we do need Health Care Reform.

Our own.

Can you name me one government-run acute care system can take care of its citizen’s health? Not even France’s can. And they’re reputed to have the best in the world.

The need for our own personal Health Care Reform is urgent. If only for the fact that the obesity epidemic is soaring. And the diabetes stats are horrific.

To illustrate: I was loading my groceries into my car when I saw a couple with one child doing the same, next to me. Mom, Dad and son were clearly all obese. Most of what they were loading into the trunk was in boxes, and hence processed. There was a special going on for frozen dinners this week, and they had what must have been 20 boxes of these. Plus several cases of multi-coloured fizzy drinks, large bottles of pop, and 3 large tubs of ice cream. As well, several jars of peanut butter, the brands with hydrogenated oils. And chips! Omigod! Maybe there was a party in the offing, ‘cos there were enough potato chips to drown a small dog in.

I wondered if their doctor had spoken to them about the current diabesity epidemic.

What, in your opinion, do you think that family could be doing in the way of Health Care Reform? Their own, that is. I’d be real happy to hear your views, in the comment section. Something like what they could do right away—today.

Cheers,

Jacquelyn

Jacquelyn Johnston M.Ed.
Professional Health Coach and Educator,
Solutions and Support for Optimal Health