How you can help improve health in county
All of us are concerned about rising health care costs. We’re quick to blame politicians—either Republicans or Democrats—for escalating costs. We can debate the merits of Obamacare, and whether or not it ultimately will be healthy for our fiscal future, to no end.
However, our nation’s new health care law played a role in fresh assessments that show Rock County residents are, collectively, anything but healthy. The law mandates that hospitals assess health needs every three years. This was the first time that the Rock County Health Department teamed up with the four hospitals in our county, as well as other agencies, on the surveys.
Reporter Gina Duwe detailed a committee’s key findings in Sunday’s Gazette.
The law also requires hospitals to develop strategies for dealing with identified issues. Rock County Health Officer Karen Cain says committee members will present their findings in communities and work with school districts and groups to reduce obesity and lack of exercise.
That might be a good step, but each of us can do something individually about our own health care and related costs, as well. We’ll share our perspectives in our editorial Wednesday.
Greg Peck can be reached at (608) 755-8278 or gpeck@gazettextra.com. Or follow him on Twitter or Facebook
Apr 19, 2012 at 11:23 p.m.
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lovemycountry, you don't watch enough television, otherwise you'd have seen the high fructose corn syrup lobby ads: "My body can't tell the difference between high fructose corn syrup and sugar!" Of course, they fail to mention that people's taste buds can tell the difference easily, otherwise why are Yankee groceries importing Coca~Cola bottled in Mexico which is sweetened with sugar? They aren't saving any money after paying the extra freight charges.
Someone should pose a Presidential debate question about the stupidity of subsidizing ethanol production which jacks up the price of HFCS while at the same time keeping the price of sugar high with tariffs.
Apr 18, 2012 at 12:58 p.m.
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mteg...good one!
Apr 18, 2012 at 11:45 a.m.
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"It's simple, if it jiggles, it's fat."
"I saw a woman wearing a sweatshirt with Guess on it. I said, Thyroid problem?"
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Apr 18, 2012 at 10:15 a.m.
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Taxpayers subsidize obesity causing sweeteners - high fructose corn syrup; and subsidize unhealthy oils - soybean oil. Yet, try to grow broccoli or carrots on a large scale, and not only will you not receive any subsidies, you'll be bankrupt before you start by hundreds of pages of government red tape.
Apr 18, 2012 at 8:32 a.m.
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Regardless of what you do to your own body, nobody wants to pay an arm or a leg for medical help.
Apr 18, 2012 at 8:32 a.m.
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Regardless of what you do to your own body, nobody wants to pay an arm or a leg for medical help.
Apr 18, 2012 at 6:20 a.m.
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So now we have the federal govt telling the hospitals they must assess the areas health needs and the hospitals MUST devise ways to address these issues. HELLO! More govt bureacracies needed! Increase in medical costs because of this. And if people already don't know that obesity, lack of exercise, alcoholism and drugs, etc. are harmful to your health, they are already brain dead or live in a cave.
Apr 17, 2012 at 9:54 p.m.
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I think the rising size of people has a direct influence on the rising cost of health care. The fatter and more unhealthy we get what do people expect? If you take a nice car in for some minor touch up and detailing it isnt going to cost as much to fix as if you brought in a complete wreck. People need to quit wrecking their bodies.
Apr 17, 2012 at 8:44 p.m.
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If we were to commit to the Mendota Mental Health Institute those commenters who make 3 or more posts on a single blog page, we'd really improve the level of psychiatric health in Rock County. ☺
Apr 17, 2012 at 8:31 p.m.
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Agreed on the profiteering as well. Just saw today that the average primary physician saw a 10% DECREASE in income from 1995 to 2003. They also have to see more patients than is medically recommended. So where is the money from all that efficiency going? Certainly not to the people buying insurance or healthcare!
Apr 17, 2012 at 7:18 p.m.
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For a list of the costs of profit, see the following site. Number 1 cites that the CEO of Aetna made $67,000,000.00 last year. Now who's paying for that?
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archive...
Apr 17, 2012 at 7:02 p.m.
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Typical American individualism: blame the individual, ignore the profiteers. I volunteer that the sacrifice be shared across all profiteers, whether they be the insurance companies or for-profit hospitals. Why don't you do an editorial on how that might help rising healthcare costs? I know that the HMO pays more and more to manages me -- that is to deprive me of healthcare -- and that money goes into their bottom line.
Apr 17, 2012 at 5:42 p.m.
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Absolutely! Personal responsibility starts with YOU. If everyone took care of their own health, our taxes and health insurance costs would drop dramatically. Look at yourself before you complain about either of those things! A little exercise goes a long way!
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Benefits:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercis...
How to get started:
http://familydoctor.org/familydoctor/en/...
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