When I walked into the locker room at my gym today, I was overwhelmed by the opinions on President Obama's health care plan.

Both positive and negative, the debate was quite heated. And while I didn't even attempt to offer my two cents, I found it interesting that no one was talking about what seems to be the only issue Republicans and Democrats CAN agree on.

And that's need to focus on prevention.

Senator Tom Harkin wrote an Op-Ed piece today about the health care issue. And he had some very interesting things to say about prevention.

Here are a few excerpts...

The fact is, we currently do not have a health care system in the United States; we have a sick care system. If you're sick, you get care, whether through insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, community health centers, emergency rooms, or charity. The problem is that this is all about patching things up after people develop serious illnesses and chronic conditions.

We spend a staggering $2.3 trillion annually on health care - 16.5 percent of our GDP and far more than any other country spends on health care - yet the World Health Organization ranks U.S. health care only 37th among nations, on par with Serbia.

We spend twice as much per capita on health care as European countries, but we are twice as sick with chronic disease.

How can this be so? The problem is that we have systematically neglected wellness and disease prevention. Currently in the United States, 95 percent of every health care dollar is spent on treating illnesses and conditions after they occur.  But we spend peanuts on prevention.

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Consider this: Right now, some 75 percent of health care costs are accounted for by heart disease, diabetes, prostate cancer, breast cancer, and obesity. What these five diseases and conditions have in common is that they are largely preventable and even reversible by changes in nutrition, physical activity, and lifestyle.

Listen to what Dr. Dean Ornish told our Senate health committee: "Studies have shown that changing lifestyle could prevent at least 90 percent of all heart disease.  Thus, the disease that accounts for more premature deaths and costs Americans more than any other illness is almost completely preventable, and even reversible, simply by changing lifestyle."

We also have to realize that wellness and prevention must be truly comprehensive. It is not only about what goes on in a doctor's office. It encompasses workplace wellness programs, community-wide wellness programs, building bike paths and walking trails, getting junk food out of our schools, making school breakfasts and lunches more nutritious, increasing the amount of physical activity our children get, and so much more.

We couldn't agree more.

But while it's reassuring to know that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are supportive of prevention initiatives in the health care bill - I want to see if this momentum behind prevention spills over into other bills.

In other words, if any of these politicians truly believe that prevention is the key to a healthy society and a more efficient and economical health care system, then they should have no problem backing organic farming programs, clean energy generation, and initiatives the promote healthy school lunches and more physical activity in schools.

They shouldn't be so easily bought off by junk food peddlers setting up energy-sucking vending machines in our schools. They shouldn't buddy up to lobbyists that believe more GMO crops, pesticides and synthetic fertilizers are the key to a strong and vibrant agricultural system. They shouldn't be so quick to throw transportation dollars at more roads while ignoring our crumbling rail infrastructure.

If we truly hope to overhaul our health care system and focus more on prevention, we must hold our lawmakers accountable for their actions beyond the health care bill.

Of course, we also have to take responsibility for ourselves.

While we look forward to prevention being a key piece of this legislation, folks have to make these decisions for themselves.

The government cannot force people to eat the right foods and exercise. And that will be a huge factor in this whole mess. Certainly education is key, as well as enabling healthier food options for those living in areas where the only options are conventional supermarkets pushing rotten, tasteless produce. . . gas station mini-marts. . .and a few fast food joints.

But at the end of the day, it is the individual who decides whether or not to exercise, and whether or not to eat a healthy dinner, complete with plenty of fruits, vegetables, and grains. . .or a couple of ninety-nine cent tacos and a liter of soda.

Let's hope we start to see less of the latter in the future.

Jeff

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