America is Not Well
By Michael Heath / selfpublishingUS.com
Johnnie R. Jackson, Ph.D., built a stellar career developing Health IT Programs used both in the public and private sectors. While he enjoyed much recognition for his innovations in health record-keeping, he currently sees the larger picture of healthcare in America as a completely dysfunctional system. That was the impetus for his writing A Paradigm Shift in Healthcare.
Dr. Jackson likes to say that people in America experience “sick care” more than they do “healthcare”. He sees that too much is making us sick and not enough medicine is making us well. According to the book, there are many villains. The food industry that feeds America a poor diet coupled with people’s sedentary lifestyle leading to half of the population suffering from either diabetes or a dangerous state of pre-diabetes. Tobacco-related disease kills more Americans in 2 ½ years than people lost in all our wars. The profit-driven pharmaceutical industry commits fraud upon the American populace with little consequence. These institutions have such influence in our government that they are enjoying political protection at the expense of the public. People are getting sicker and sicker while escalating healthcare costs prevent them from getting most forms of medical care. Dr. Jackson believes that the healthcare situation has gotten so bad that our society now accepts the notion that healthcare is a privilege and not a right.
A response is needed to this worsening problem. Dr. Jackson writes that the Affordable Care Act was a step in the right direction in allowing people of all economic backgrounds access to health insurance. However, the effectiveness of the legislation was tamped down when many states refused to expand their Medicaid programs that would have served lower-income people and their families. Dr. Jackson believes that America needs a universal healthcare system that allows freer access to the doctors and prescriptions it requires.
There are so many things to do. Greater oversight and regulation on the food and pharmaceutical industries is a good start. Outlawing tobacco products would save countless lives. Creating a medical structure accessible to all people is the American way. A radical rethinking of how we look at maintaining our nation’s healthcare system is a paradigm shift that this country desperately needs.
Note: A Paradigm Shift in Healthcare can be purchased at www.AParadigmShiftInHealthcare.com