Thursday, February 5, 2009

New U.S. Health Secretary

I'm taking an easy way today, hurt my thumb last night and have a little trouble typing. Luckily, I found this incredibly encouraging and informative article on Dr. Mercola's site and hope you find it interesting, too. :)
Good News -- New U.S. Health Secretary is a Huge Fan of Wellness!

Former Senator Tom Daschle was confirmed by the senate last week on President Obama’s inauguration day as the new secretary of Health and Human Services in the U.S. He really does understand many of the problems, as you will see by this video. I believe this is a phenomenal choice and that there is a good chance we will make significant impacts in health and wellness with his leadership.

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

There are three major reasons why this short clip of former Senator Tom Daschle left me hopeful:


1. He acknowledged the notion that the United States has the best health care system in the world is a MYTH


2. He pointed out that the high rate of people dying from medical errors every year (100,000, or the equivalent of a 747 crashing every day and a half) is unacceptable


3. He agreed that focusing on wellness should be the starting point in health care, not the afterthought it is now

These are key foundational beliefs that will be needed in order to revamp the current health care system, and it is a step in the right direction that the new Secretary of the Health and Human Services is already on board with them.

If you’re wondering what, exactly, the Secretary does, he will head up agencies like the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), along with the newly created White House Office of Health Reform.

He will also be in control of a budget worth more than $700 billion.

Americans Are Ready for Major Health Care Reform

The change in leadership at the Department of Health and Human Services could not have come at a better time, as Americans are ready for change.

In fact, 82 percent of Americans think the U.S. health care system should be fundamentally changed or completely rebuilt, according to a survey of more than 1,000 adults conducted in 2008, and I couldn’t agree more.

In short, Americans are tired of spending so much money for health care, and not getting their money’s worth.

The United States spent $2.5 trillion on health care in 2008, but by 2017, health care spending is projected to exceed $4 TRILLION. This is largely due to the costs of drugs and surgery and a reliance on a medical system that treats only symptoms and never the cause of disease.

Now, I would not mind one bit if spending $2.5 trillion provided major benefits, but sadly, as you likely know, this is clearly not the case.

The United States spends more than twice as much on each person for health care as most other industrialized countries. But it comes in LAST among those countries in preventing deaths that could have been avoided with the use of timely and effective medical care.

Meanwhile, the United States ranks only 42nd in global life expectancy and 34th in survival of infants. These are the rankings earned by having the most expensive medical care in the world?

Something doesn’t add up, and that “something” is that the drug companies and food industries are THE primary forces behind most of the terrible health statistics of the United States.

These industries and the drug industry in particular, have been able to manipulate and control the U.S. Congress to pass just about any and every law they need to increase their profits. Once you understand how they control the government, you realize how they are directing health care policy for their own good -- NOT for your benefit.

Very few people understand that the drug companies and other big industries essentially control the U.S. Congress with their massive lobbying forces. Again, their relatively minor investments allow them to manipulate votes on key legislation that is highly favorable to their bottom line and almost always in conflict with your best interests.

It’s Time for a New Beginning

With the new leadership coming into office, I’m hopeful that health care will one day return to the basics and promote wellness instead of disease treatment.

Can you imagine how many diseases and deaths could be prevented if we focused on promoting healthy lifestyles and reduced consumption of toxic drugs and unnecessary medical procedures?

Fortunately you don’t have to wait for the government to solve the problem as you can Take Control of Your Health right now, today, break free from the drug-industry’s hold on you and in so doing begin to change the direction of health care -- one person at a time.

10 comments:

Owen Cutajar said...

That sounds like good news. Fingers crossed that he proves to be effective in office.

Anonymous said...

Wow. That sounds very interesting and like they are aware of so many things. Lets hope they can fix it.

Anonymous said...

I think he's a great choice. I would like to point out that the number of people dying from medical errors is a little misleading because it doesn't mention how many individuals are in the medical system at any given time. My husband is a paramedic, and it's not uncommon for every single hospital in his territory to be on bypass because every single bed is filled.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad he's so aware. That's really great. I hope that things really do turn around.

BarbaraRae said...

I think this is a very good choice. Hope health care gets better for us all!

Anonymous said...

Hopefully, this is a step in the right direction.

Anonymous said...

I thought he pulled his name out. Guess not.

Anonymous said...

It's about time! You wrote, "Something doesn’t add up, and that “something” is that the drug companies and food industries are THE primary forces behind most of the terrible health statistics of the United States." and that is so true it's not even funny. We all hear the commercials, my god, half the cures are worse than the "disease" itself. Excellent news, great post, and thank you very much!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing this article Daria - it's very interesting for me as a Canadian to see what direction your Gov't will take.

You are so right, we all need to take control of our health now so we are part of the solution and not the problem.

Anonymous said...

we really do need an overhaul of our healthcare system. it's terrible.

Daria's World - blog about people and things that matter the most

Daria's World - blog about people and things that matter the most
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