Health Care and the Role of Personal Responsibility

Today the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, and while that is a pivotal milestone in U.S. health policy we must not think that we have somehow solved health care issues. The politics of health care will remain heated and there are more long-term solutions that are less controversial that we need to consider.

There is a great deal of friction when we point to personal responsibility for health as a factor in health care policy. Wellness and disease prevention need to be at the forefront of Colorado's health policy and we cannot hand down government mandates to individuals to address personal choices. Although there are circumstances that make it harder for many people to make good individual choices with regard to health habits we should look at wellness in our health care policy as leadership by example instead of government intrusion.

What I mean is that Colorado's government must work creatively (not something any government is particularly good at) to address wellness. Reducing the costs of compliance with medical directives, educating the public on existing programs and services, encouraging better disease prevention policies, better urban planning, and incentivizing healthy lifestyles will pay dividends for the state.

Colorado must also do more to encourage regular preventive care and wellness exams; we must also work to establish good preventive care habits from infancy to adulthood. To lead by example we should work to incentivize and reward personal wellness within the framework of our state's massive public employee health care benefits programs.

Our motivation for proactive health care policies should come from two sources: (1) it is the right thing to do and shows that we are an efficient, innovative government and (2) we will save money. By preventing diseases and promoting wellness there will be less drain on our health care system for treatment of things like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, strokes and numerous other conditions that are avoidable through long-term wellness.

Health care policy deserves continued attention. Whether you felt like the Supreme Court's decision today was a victory or a defeat, we cannot afford to lose focus on these issues.