Next issue, we will return with the latest in anti aging medicine
As we age, health care costs escalate dramatically, yet we are increasingly more vulnerable when it comes to health care. According to the Center for American Progress, 2.4 million Americans have lost their employer provided health insurance since the start of the recession. In March 2009, that pace accelerated to 10,680 workers each day.
More than 46 million Americans are now uninsured. If you're over 50, until Medicare kicks in at 65 most insurance companies simply don't want to cover you, because statistics show that chronic illnesses begin in middle age.
For those over 65 Medicare nursing home coverage is woefully inadequate. Yet some claim that we have the best health care on the planet, only true if you can afford it.
According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services, in 2009 US health care costs will climb to $2.6 trillion eating 17.6 % of our Gross Domestic Product. In less than a decade, health care will account for one out of every five dollars spent in the United States, yet in longevity as a nation we rank 13th. The country where people live the longest is Japan, which spends less than half of our GDP percentage on health coverage, only 8.1%.
One of the major reasons why our auto industry is uncompetitive is the enormous burden of employer health care coverage, which is not a factor in the cost of foreign built cars. Although we don't have universal coverage, we still pay for the uninsured, since they rely on emergency rooms for primary care, at a higher cost than preventive care. That extra burden on the insured is now estimated at $1000 a year for a family of four.
The situation will only get worse as baby boomers age and face the end of their lives. 27% of Medicare's entire budget is now spent on caring for patients in their final year. What will happen as the 76 million baby boomers reach life's end? Clearly, it's now time for comprehensive health reform.
In 1993 the last attempt at national health care reform was defeated by a scare campaign orchestrated by the Health Insurance Association of America. It produced a masterful series of attack ads against the Clinton Plan featuring the characters "Harry and Louise." Click here for a video looking at both sides of that debate. Reform opponents have aleady produced a new series of TV ads for 2009.
Today the climate is different. On a federal level, Children’s Health Insurance Program CHIP, for low income families has recently expanded. Massachusetts now has nearly universal health coverage. As Americans feel increasingly vulnerable due to the economic downturn, for the first time more than 60% of us now support systemic health care change.
The Obama Administration has begun a health care reform effort with the following goals:
- Make sure that every American has access to high quality health care
- Lower costs
- Honor patient choice in physicians
- Hold insurance companies accountable
- Promote scientific advancement
- Streamline record keeping
- Improve preventive care, the essence of the philosophy behind our anti-aging documentary, “Reverse Aging Now,
It's time to weigh in on this vital issue. Make your own views known. Instead of duplicating Hillary Clinton's top down approach, President Obama has asked Congress to take the lead on health care reform, a process going on now. Given the impact this resturcting will have on all of us, it's vital to now approach your representatives to let them know how you feel.
To get involved, click here: Please forward this newsletter to other concerned citizens.
To see how one middle-aged man is applying anti-aging precepts to his own life, go to Anti-Aging Diary.com. To embrace anti-aging you need to make a mental as well as physical journey. It's not always easy, but well worth the effort. Remember to watch our anti-aging documentary, “Reverse Aging Now,
Reverse Aging News c. 2009 Checkmate Pictures - Paul M. J. Suchecki, Editor
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