On June 10, 2010, Barack Obama signed an
Executive Order establishing the National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council. Apparently the federal government is getting a head start on taking over health care in America.
Section 3, paragraph C actually calls for "changes in Federal policy to achieve national wellness, health promotion, and public health goals, including the reduction of tobacco use, sedentary behavior, and poor nutrition." Really? Changes in Federal policy to reduce tobacco use, sedentary behavior, and poor nutrition?
While I agree that smoking, being a lazy bum and living on fast food are not healthy habits, I would also have to say that it's not the place of the federal government to tell anyone what to eat or to mandate how much exercise you do. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:
Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.
- Ronald Reagan
If a person chooses to eat nothing but Big Macs, chooses to smoke two packs of cigarettes a day, chooses to never exercise and be grossly obese, these are their decisions and they should be free to live (and die) with those decisions. Am I saying that people who weigh over 300 pounds and have no medical condition, they simply are fat because they allow themselves to be, that these people should be allowed to die before one cent of taxpayer money is spent on them? Yes, I am. If you have the
right to make poor decisions then you have the
right to suffer the consequences of those decisions. I should have the right to
not have to pay your healthcare if you knowingly make poor decisions.
Again, government intervention is part of the problem, not the solution. The "Obama Care" healthcare reform plan that was recently passed into law will make it illegal for insurance providers to deny anyone insurance due to a pre-existing condition. So, if you have high blood pressure and diabetes because you weigh 350 pounds and live at McDonalds, you'll still be insured because the government has deemed you worthy simply by virtue of having a pulse. America as a nation is grossly obese, yet we can't figure out why an insurance company would deny anyone coverage. Perhaps it's because they are a business and, like any other business, they need to make a profit to
stay in business. Again: insurance companies do
not exist to provide you with insurance; they exist to make a profit like any other business. Does that make them evil? Is Purina evil because they aren't in business to provide your dog with free food, because they actually expect to make a small profit on the food your dog eats?
This is just the latest example of the government creating another council or board or regulation to counter something they've already put in place. Allow insurers to refuse someone who makes no effort to stay healthy. That would provide far more incentive than another government council or regulation. Some folks have conditions that are beyond their control and they should be insured so they can get the care they need. That's a problem. If government wants to "fix" healthcare, start with that and tort reform, not taking over the whole system.
One thing is certain at a moment like this: America needs a leader, not a politician. Is the guy that signed this Executive Order going to step up and be the first to attend smoking cessation classes?
