Brave new world for health care
Editor:
Regardless of your position on mandating free contraception for all women, you have to admire the fortitude of the Obama administration for taking on the most difficult "free preventive" item first. It should make it easy to define the other services the country needs to provide free to all Americans to elevate their health status and contain costs.
Contraception was a tough sell because many Americans objected to the mandate because of religious, e.g., opposes doctrine, moral, e.g., promotes promiscuity, and health, e.g., increased risk of sexually transmitted diseases, concerns. It should be much less controversial mandating all Americans be provided free other items to promote health and control cost, such as:
* Bicycle helmets and other protective occupational and recreational items, e.g., goggles, pads, gloves.
* Gym membership and conditioning sessions.
* Personal trainers and wellness activities.
* Home humidifiers, dehumidifiers, HEPA filter systems, house cleaning services, etc. to reduce allergic and respiratory irritants.
* Organically grown and free-range fruits, vegetables and other food substances deemed "healthy" by the appropriate federal agencies.
* Meals consumed at federally deemed "healthy" restaurants.
* Rural relocation and housing for asthmatic families living in urban polluted areas, thought to contribute to 50 percent of new cases.
* Condoms and deemed safe recreational drugs to promote "healthy" sexual socialization.
* Three, state provided, "healthy" meals a day for school aged children (no outside food or vending).
Reducing financial barriers that contribute to high health cost and less than optimal health status is the easy part. The hard part is assuring all citizens maximally utilize these state provided goods and services, as intended by the state.
This will require the expenditure of additional resources to entice, cajole or coerce citizens. Federal and state tax credits, direct incentive payments, public recognition, achievement awards are a few positive sanctions that might be tried. Federal and state tax penalties, fines, civil or criminal prosecution, public embarrassment techniques, are a few of the negative ones.
Brave new world for health care
Editor:
Regardless of your position on mandating free contraception for all women, you have to admire the fortitude of the Obama administration for taking on the most difficult "free preventive" item first. It should make it easy to define the other services the country needs to provide free to all Americans to elevate their health status and contain costs.
Contraception was a tough sell because many Americans objected to the mandate because of religious, e.g., opposes doctrine, moral, e.g., promotes promiscuity, and health, e.g., increased risk of sexually transmitted diseases, concerns. It should be much less controversial mandating all Americans be provided free other items to promote health and control cost, such as:
* Bicycle helmets and other protective occupational and recreational items, e.g., goggles, pads, gloves.
* Gym membership and conditioning sessions.
* Personal trainers and wellness activities.
* Home humidifiers, dehumidifiers, HEPA filter systems, house cleaning services, etc. to reduce allergic and respiratory irritants.
* Organically grown and free-range fruits, vegetables and other food substances deemed "healthy" by the appropriate federal agencies.
* Meals consumed at federally deemed "healthy" restaurants.
* Rural relocation and housing for asthmatic families living in urban polluted areas, thought to contribute to 50 percent of new cases.
* Condoms and deemed safe recreational drugs to promote "healthy" sexual socialization.
* Three, state provided, "healthy" meals a day for school aged children (no outside food or vending).
Reducing financial barriers that contribute to high health cost and less than optimal health status is the easy part. The hard part is assuring all citizens maximally utilize these state provided goods and services, as intended by the state.
This will require the expenditure of additional resources to entice, cajole or coerce citizens. Federal and state tax credits, direct incentive payments, public recognition, achievement awards are a few positive sanctions that might be tried. Federal and state tax penalties, fines, civil or criminal prosecution, public embarrassment techniques, are a few of the negative ones.
We must embrace new high-tech surveillance techniques such as used on the popular TV show "Person of Interest." Only then will we be able to assure all citizens employ state-sanctioned behavior to promote optimal health and control costs -- a brave new world.
James Felsen
Great Cacapon
Housing out of reach for too many
Editor:
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The National Low Income Housing Coalition recently released their 2012 Out of Reach report. The report is a side-by-side comparison of wages and rents in every county, metropolitan area, and state in the United States. The report calculates the amount of money a household must earn in order to afford a rental unit at the area's Fair Market Rent.
Fair Market Rent is determined each year by HUD. In 2012 the average Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit in the United States is $949. A person working minimum wage full-time earns $290 a week before taxes. At that rate a person would have to work nearly 3 and a half weeks just to pay the rent. According to HUD a person should pay no more than 30 percent of their income on rent. At the current minimum wage rate, a person working full-time can only afford $377 per month in rent.
Out of Reach cites West Virginia as one of the least expensive areas to live with Fair Market Rent of a two-bedroom unit being $626 in the Charleston area, $599 in the Huntington area, and $660 in the Morgantown area. On average in West Virginia, a person needs to earn $11.50 an hour to afford Fair Market Rent on a two-bedroom unit. That is $4.25 more an hour then the current minimum wage.
This report raises many concerns about hardships faced by hardworking families in our state. Too many families are one paycheck away from foreclosure or eviction. Too many families are forced to live in over-crowded conditions or substandard housing because that is all they can afford. Too many families are working long hours and struggling with no end in sight. It is time we demand a living wage and affordable housing for all.
To read the full report visit nlihc.org.
Evelyn Dortch
Executive Director
Direct Action Welfare Group
Charleston
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