Healthy lifestyles would cut costs

President Obama and Congress are determined to enact a massive medical reform bill filled with more rules, taxes and penalties. It will create a bureaucratic nightmare full of inefficiencies. Government entitlements, such as this, have a poor record of accomplishing its' intended goal of reducing costs. Medical care is not free and adding another 30 million to the health care system will inevitably increase insurance premiums and taxes for everyone.

President Obama wants to make the health insurance industry the scapegoat. I believe the real problem is that each individual American has not taken the personal responsibility for their health. The costs we face today are the result of decades of unhealthy lifestyles, poor eating habits and lack of physical activity. Sixty percent of Americans are overweight and 30 percent are considered obese. Heart disease, strokes, diabetes, cancer (smoking), and obesity are the leading causes of death in America.

These chronic diseases are the most expensive to treat and yet, are some of the most preventable when an individual makes a serious change in their lifestyle. These chronic diseases, once considered typical only for older adults, are now affecting younger individuals, setting the stage for future generations to suffer with more of the same. Pogo said, "We have met the enemy and he is us."

How many have taken the attitude that we can live and eat as we please and then, when we become sick, expect the medical profession to fix us up and the insurance industry to pay the bill. Certainly the health insurance industry can be improved and we should take a serious look at the food industry as well, but until each individual takes the responsibility for improving their own health none of these attempts by lawyers in Congress will help.

Bill Rode

Palatine