Thursday, August 13, 2015

Health care in the USA is not seeing adults healthy into their senior years.

A survey of older people in 11 countries (click here) finds that U.S. adults are sicker than their counterparts abroad, as well as the most likely to have problems paying their medical bills and getting needed healthcare. U.S. adults also reported difficulty getting care in a timely fashion and using emergency departments for issues that a primary care physician could treat. Among the bright spots for the United States: having a care plan for chronic illness, and planning for end-­of-­life care....

Americans are viewed as economic commodities. It is why ketchup is a vegetable. The food Americans eat are unhealthy. It shows and the federal legislature scoffs at a First Lady that brought a healthy diet to children. American legislators like to call it LIBERTY, but, when obesity results that is not a lifestyle when Americans die prematurely as a consumer at the "Heart Attack Cafe." 

Americans are not valued by their legislators FIRST before commercial interests of cronies are satisfied. The American diet is very bad with some change,  but, not enough to move the country to the forefront of good health globally.  

As they age, Americans don't age well. Former President Carter is an exception, but, he should be viewed as the standard for older Americans. Legislators like to ridicule Medicare as the problem. It is not the problem. The lack of health in the American citizen is the problem. 

Understand this; eating one's self to death in the USA is a choice supported by American Liberties:

October 5, 2015
By Jacob Davidson

Heart Attack Grill’ Owner (click here) Proudly Displays Dead Customer’s Remains on TV (click here)


The Vegas-based restaurateur says he wants you to know his food kills — so that maybe you'll stop eating junk.... 

Why doesn't he shut his place down in realization of the pain he causes people? Better yet, why doesn't the government shut him down and make things right with the family of this poor man. This ? customer ? was a side show to bring in more business.

That is sick. That is the USA. But, health care is an option and older Americans have to guess how they will maintain their wellness. 

This is an article BEFORE the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" was passed and came into full effect in 2014. But, mind you, Republicans have the best answer to recall the ACA of which they voted on innumerable times. They are human rights violators and they don't care. They use money and manipulation to be elected.

Sunday, October 8, 2008
By Laura Ungar and Patrick Howington

...Today's uncertain economy only exacerbates their difficulties:(click here)
  • Problems with insurance often arise before the traditional retirement age of 65. Commonwealth Fund, a New York-based research organization, found that more than The a third of Americans 50 to 64 years old, or about 19 million people, were uninsured or underinsured in 2007. That includes about 714,700 in Kentucky and Indiana. 
  • Hitting 65 and joining the federal Medicare program isn't the panacea many think it is. The average American 65 or older faces $9,074 in health expenses each year, with Medicare covering only about half, because of services that aren't covered, such as dental work, or gaps in coverage plans, such as prescription drugs. The Commonwealth Fund projects out-of-pocket expenses for those over 65 will average $5,411 in 2011, up 49 percent from 2003.
  • Seniors can face much higher bills if they develop a chronic disease such as cancer, which is almost 10 times as likely among adults over 50 and can cost more than $40,000 to treat. Compared with the national average, cancer strikes 10 percent more often in Kentucky and 2 percent more often in Indiana.
  • For a growing number of older people, rising health costs are putting retirement out of reach. The number of Kentuckians and Hoosiers 65 and older holding jobs has risen 28 percent since 2003, from 167,000 to 214,000. Fidelity Investments estimates most couples retiring this year will need at least $225,000 for lifetime medical expenses, up 18 percent from the 2005 estimate. (Calculate your retirement medical expenses estimates)
Many seniors can't come up with that kind of money, so they cut costs through such steps as skipping necessary care and rationing medications. Mason, for example, takes her cholesterol pills every other day instead of the prescribed daily dose....