To the Left: Preventative Care is Key to Health

        As this Republican majority Congress and White House debate and prepare for the impending deterrence as well as the gradual repeal and replacement of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or Obamacare, we always tend to discuss the costs and accessibilities of healthcare. As an American Leftist, I would be personally be sympathetic for either a Canadian style single payer healthcare system that covers base care and allows private supplementary insurance or Michigan Congressman John Conyers’ United States National Health Care Act that covers both basic care and non-basic care as a “Medicare for All” single payer healthcare system in which it seeks to abolish the private insurance industry all together. Also, I would be in strong favor of reforming Obamacare with the creation of a public option for those who are uninsured or underinsured, allowing all current public healthcare programs to negotiate drug prices, removing the ban of drug imports and exports to and from developed nations, enforcing the contraceptive mandate, maintaining the insurance mandate, establishing an all payer setting, and allowing those over the age of 50 years old to “buy in” to Medicare. Whether our healthcare system will transition towards a single payer system that provide almost universal coverage or other two-tier forms that are accessible as well as affordable, we cannot ignore one of the most important aspects of the debate regarding this human right. Preventative care mechanisms and policies can be utilized to reduce both costs and medical issues amongst the civilian population. While Americans are living longer than previous generations in our historical past, we as a society still encounter a significant amount of medical obstacles as well as challenges. Despite the advances and legalities of all contraceptive or reproductive healthcare, rates of unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases are still relatively high. Even though foods are gradually become GMO labeled, vast amounts of antibiotics and toxic chemicals are still being used in everyday foods and liquids we consume.

       Although most restaurants have calorie counts as well as other nutritional information visibly on their menus and people drinking less soda, obesity and other medical conditions relating to the consumption of junk food are still prevalent in our society. While polio might eradicated, a significant amount of children are still not vaccinated due to their idiotic parents’ religious or personal beliefs based on either paranormal superstition or pseudoscience. Also, diseases such as cancers, HIV, ALS, Alzheimer’s and AIDs are still not fully or greatly  invested towards much needed research for better treatments and eventually a cure. If our government, which is for, of, and by the people, and our society as a collective whole focused on much needed preventative care, healthcare costs would start to decrease or become cost-efficient. High quality and affordable costs must both become top priorities for the healthcare sector, public or private. Living or promoting a healthy lifestyle is not only the cost-effective action to commit, but also the moral action to commit within our society.