This may fall into the category of stating the obvious, but the Corvallis Gazette-Times ran this editorial this week. It was a follow-up to a speech given locally by Governor Kitzhaber. Here’s how it begins:
Gov. John Kitzhaber brought his health care reform pitch to Corvallis last week, and that got us thinking about one of the fundamental ideas underlying his thinking:
That the best way to rein in the rapidly escalating costs of our health care system is to overhaul its primary goal: Instead of being focused on treating illness, the idea goes, we should be focused on finding ways to keep people (and communities) healthy.
We think there’s some real merit to the idea. (We also tend to think that state Sen. Frank Morse is onto something when he says tort reform is another key to reducing health care costs, although that’s a topic for another editorial).
In fact, you’re starting to see some signs, across the country and here at home, that the idea of keeping people healthy first is starting to gain some traction.
The editorial goes on to site several hopeful signs, but confess, “And yet, even as the notion gains some momentum, it’s a tough slog uphill: We are battling an epidemic of obesity, a key factor in a host of health issues such as diabetes and heart disease.”
And concludes:
Those are the sorts of issues that first lady Michelle Obama, a recent visitor to Corvallis, is tackling in her “Let’s Move!” initiative. The goal: To raise a healthier generation of American children.
Talk about a tough slog uphill — which actually, come to think of it, sounds like the kind of exercise that many of us could use.
But imagine that “Let’s Move” makes some inroads in battling childhood obesity. Think of the millions of dollars that would save down the road in our health care system — not to mention the improvements in our quality of life.
Wouldn’t it be ironic if Michelle Obama’s initiative — working hand-in-hand with an increased emphasis on preventive medicine — did more to improve our health care system than her husband’s Affordable Care Act? Just something to chew on during your next uphill slog.
Read the editorial here.
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