HW #32 - Thoughts Following Illness And Dying Unit

Our culture has various practices surrounding illness and dying, some of which have a purpose and logical cause, and some of which seem to have no rhyme or reason.  I think the most atrocious of those practices includes the tendency of the government to allow the invisible hand to rule in insurance companies, because it results in a high percentage of people without complete (or any) health coverage. If the health coverage was run by the government or if insurance companies had more actively regimented regulations, perhaps the health of our country would be better, overall. I also dislike the way our country treats the illness and dying in other countries. Why can we afford to put so much of our financial resources into our military, which often hurts the citizens of other countries, but cannot afford to help the terribly sick and needy in other countries or even in our own country? If we do have enough money, then why isn’t it being utilized in a beneficial way? If our country spends more of its budget on health care than most other countries, the lack of healthy people in our nation is an indication that it is not utilizing the money well.

 In order to transform this illness and dying practices, our government should utilize its money in a more thoughtful way (for example, by spending less money trying to keep old and fatally ill alive in the hospital) and by regulating the habits of insurance companies. By spending more money on advertising and encouraging the consumption of healthy foods, and by banning or discouraging foods with relatively no health benefits, the nation’s hospital bills would probably decrease significantly. Heart disease is one of the biggest causes of death in the US, and therefore a large cause of money spent on keeping the dying alive via machines, on medication, and on hospital care. I personally would rather spend money now on curtailing heart disease than on medical bills later. Surely there is a way of convincing others of the gravity of the situation, and of educating them about their options.