Polls in Canada and the USA show that Health Care is a major concern in both countries, but in this election cycle, it is likely to be shunted to the side lines by THE ECONOMY (now supplanting the previous “critical” issue, THE TERRORIST)…which few understand, including the majority of our elected political representatives.  Logically, why should we expect our political representatives to be experts in the economy, terrorism or health issues etc, since we vote for them because they are “cute”, “strong”, “trustworthy”, “in touch with the common person”, “good speakers” or a variety of other irrelevant and unverifiable reasons?

The future quality of health care in North America does not look promising because it is getting more expensive all the time and because the Baby Boomers’ population bulge is already impacting the system and will do so increasingly as they age.  Right wing/ conservative administrations in Canada and the USA have been spending an ever increasing % of their budgets on the military – over 50% in the USA – which takes away from other expenditure.  The Health Care situation in the USA is particularly bleak since Germany and USA are the only industrialized countries (including Australia, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Japan, Sweden, UK, and France) without a 100% publicly funded health care systems.  The USA’s health care system is 45% publically funded.

Here are a few suggestions of what you can do to improve your health care:

• Apart from lobbying for more money for health care, make sure that the funds that are publicly allotted are used efficiently.  It seems to me that an inordinate amount of money goes to dramatic/ unusual diseases while the “common” diseases/ patients are underfunded; lots of money also goes to administration and bureaucracy.
• Invest more in preventative medicine and health maintenance.  If people are healthier and take preventative measures sooner, we don’t have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on exorbitant, last ditch procedures for individuals.  Complementary (often Chinese and Indian) medicine focuses on mind-body health maintenance and early detection of diseases, very often at minimal cost. In the USA, the extra out-of-pocket medical expenditure on complementary medicine is only slightly below the expenditure on conventional medicine. Canada (apart from USA) has the lowest publicly funded coverage in OECD countries for complementary medicine
• Investigate the link between conventional medicine and the monetary pressures of Big Pharma, which sometimes markets diseases/ conditions in order to sell their drugs.  A point to ponder: It is not in the interest of Big Pharma for people to be totally healthy (eg. through prevention) since their markets would drastically shrink.
• Investigate the link between pollution (largely corporate) and your health.  If corporations pollute the environment or pump you full of questionable substances without any (or minimal) monetary cost and (directly or indirectly) cause health problems in individuals, it means that ordinary individuals like you and me are subsidizing corporate profits (much going to high-flying CEOs), since when we get sick, we often pay for our treatment from our own pockets.

• Last but not least (in fact, primarily), take responsibility for your own health, since it is something which is immediately and directly within your control! I favour an integrated body-energy-emotion-mind-spirit approach since we are complex beings which incorporate all those levels.  In terms of the body, exercise your body and pay attention to your food intake.  Organic, (mostly) vegetarian food will probably work out the same in cost as a cheap meat-centered diet and will be better for your health… but expert advice will help a lot.  The mind is a severely neglected area of health and well-being since most of our words and deeds emanates from the intellectual mind, which in most people is muddled and unexamined.  The Mind and Emotions are not common topics within our family upbringing or formal education even as they dominate our everyday lives.

Towards a more enlightened and compassionate humanity,

Andy James