Taking care of ourselves

Look, another article on increasing health insurance costs! Wowie kazowie! Health insurance rates are going up! Maybe a little less than in the past but still they are going up - which is the wrong direction. Woop de doo! I want an article saying health insurance rates are going down. But we know that isn't going to happen anytime soon. Anyway, its just another article in the long line of articles on rising health care costs to which we are now very accustomed and basically expect them.

This one includes a video from an insurance company big wig as he tries to justify the increasing rates in another 'if-we-can't-kill-them-confuse-them' explanation but he does make some valid points.

One of the biggest reasons for increasing health care costs besides an aging population and technology and medical advances is that we, as a population, are not taking as good care of ourselves. We are fat and lazy and as a result have all sorts of ailments as a result. While I am not a fan of insurance rate increases and our health system overall, I think he has a few valid points. We are our own biggest supporters and our own worst enemies. We owe it to ourselves to get off our butts, eat right, get exercise, brush our teeth, and all that good stuff.

The increase in health ailments, such as cancer, can be attributed to increasing industrialization, longer lives, and pollution among other causes. But they also can be attributed to the fact that as an industrialized nation we have all sorts of 'modern improvements' that made life easier - no more trips to the outhouse and ringing out the clothes by hand - that have made us lazier and lazier. Packaged, prepared, and fast food have made life easier but have increased the chemicals and fat grams we consume without having to get out of our cars and have pretty much eliminated the need for taste buds.

We owe it to ourselves to make the effort to take better care of ourselves - which is the one part of the health insurance mess we can control. We might feel better as well.