Reducing healthcare costs is everyone's job

A recent op-ed piece in the Cape Gazette has sparked lively community debate about healthcare, and readers on both sides continue to weigh in with reactions.

Yet whether one supports the Affordable Care Act or hates Obamacare, it is increasingly clear the healthcare delivery system is no longer sustainable. The United States already spends far more on healthcare than any other nation in the world, yet our healthcare costs continue to rise. These costs are not rising because of a virulent disease or mystery bacteria.

The American Medical Association reports one in every four healthcare dollars is spent on the treatment of diseases or disabilities that result from patient behaviors that can potentially be changed. That’s an estimated $575 billion spent on illnesses we bring on ourselves by unhealthy lifestyle choices.

It’s unsustainable. It has to change.

As a nation, we will not achieve sustainable healthcare delivery unless as citizens we take greater responsibility for making healthy lifestyle choices.

A major effort was unveiled this week to make Sussex County the healthiest county in the nation. The Healthier Sussex County initiative takes aim at two diseases: diabetes and breast cancer. By reducing the incidence of these two diseases, health experts say the county’s overall health will significantly improve.

The initiative will focus on educating county residents about eating a healthier diet to reduce obesity, a major contributor to adult-onset diabetes. The initiative also takes aim at providing mammograms to more women to ensure early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. While officials continue to debate the merits of the healthcare law, we as citizens have the power to significantly reduce healthcare costs.

Those costs will go down if we simply leave the junk food at the store and fill our plates with fruits and vegetables. We can also get outside and walk 30 minutes a day, which costs nothing. Even if we did nothing else, these simple lifestyle changes would dramatically reduce healthcare costs while at the same time improving productivity.

A major part of the healthcare problem has a relatively simple solution. It comes down to individuals deciding to live healthy lives.