Public Health | Red Brown and Blue

OPINION: 720 hours More With a Dying Father.

Written by Rolando Rodriguez | April 7th, 2010 | Comments (3)

Hispanic Funeral

My father worked 90 days at the last job of his life so he could get health insurance. In the early part of those 90 days, doctors found cancer that was eating him up fast. He needed rest and recovery, but the 90-day mark qualified him for health insurance. He needed coverage to live — and to live financially — because medical costs would have killed him, before the cancer did.

So the toughest son of a bitch I’ve ever known, Rolando Rodriguez, Sr., worked a rigorous, blue collar mechanic job — as he’d always done — with cancer, dropping to 110 pounds and knowing his life was soon ending so the financial burden of health care wouldn’t take down his family – so he could get health insurance.

He made it the 90 days, got health insurance, but in the next 90 days, he was dead at 46-years-old.

He shouldn’t have spent those 90 days working. He should have been resting, fighting the cancer, preparing to die – anything – but not laying under an oily engine fixing trucks.

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OPINION: “Soda: It’s Bad for You.”

Written by Rudy Ruiz | March 11th, 2010 | Comments (1)

fat man soda

“Soda: It’s bad for you.” That’s the main reason why a growing number of public health experts and government officials propose taxing it, because soda consumption contributes to the obesity epidemic. Experts at Johns Hopkins call the trend “a public health crisis,” projecting that by 2015, 75 percent of Americans will be overweight or obese. No one’s more at risk than Latinos. So tough as it is, Latino leaders should put down the bubbly and step up to the plate in support of soda taxes.

Most of us grew up with a soda in our hands and a twelve-pack in the pantry, but it’s time to wake up and smell the stench of empty calories. Diabetes Health reports that researchers from UCLA and the California Center for Public Health Advocacy discovered “a strong correlation between soda consumption and weight.” Specifically, they found that “adults who drink a soda or more per day are 27 percent more likely to be overweight than those who do not drink sodas.” The results were published in a study called, “Bubbling Over: Soda Consumption and Its Link to Obesity in California.”

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For the People: A Mercy Killing.

Written by Jake Negovan | December 21st, 2009 | Comments (5)

medical_NyTiZ_18311

In several conversations about health care legislation over the course of the past year, I argued for taking whatever we could get. I reasoned that a defeat now would likely be a defeat forever, as national health care would face its second consecutive failure under its second consecutive Democratic president, and would strengthen the argument that the people of the U.S. would never accept national socialized medical care. I have theorized that the smallest victory now would establish a base camp of sorts that future legislators could work to move toward more all-encompassing health care coverage.

Today, I am of a different mind. The health “insurance reform” that the Senate has crapped out is a vile, dishonest rape of the notion that Americans will see any sort of relief from the corporate, for-profit machinery of the insurance industry. The bill must die.

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Texas Hispanics Might Lose if Opt-Out Public Option Wins.

Written by Rudy Ruiz | November 4th, 2009 | Comments (4)

poor boy

You win some and you lose some. So it might go for Texas if Congress ends up approving health care reform including an “opt-out” public option. But this is a life and death battle Texas Hispanics simply can’t afford to lose.

Earlier this week, the Senate’s Majority Leader, Harry Reid (D-Nevada), stated his intent to craft a bill that incorporates a government-administered public option while permitting individual states to opt out. The details of how such states could opt out are still unclear. It is most likely, however, that states would initially be included in the reform. Legislatures could then vote to opt out, requiring final gubernatorial approval.

While many in the media have seen this development as a victory for liberal Democrats, I see it as a cop out designed to secure the votes needed in the Senate to avoid a filibuster while potentially sacrificing the needs of some of the neediest populations in our country when it comes to health coverage and health disparities.

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Should We Tax Fat to Reform America’s Health?

Written by Rudy Ruiz | October 5th, 2009 | Comments (46)

Here’s a whopper for you to chew on: Why not tax fat?

We tax cigarettes, gasoline and alcohol to dissuade their use and help pay for the damage they cause. So why not tax unhealthy food to reduce its appeal as well as pay for the health care costs generated by the growing burden of obesity? For added convenience and speed, I’d start by ordering up such a tax on fast food, pronto.

Let’s face it, two/thirds of Americans are afflicted by the obesity epidemic. Our expanding national waistline correlates to our bulging health care budget, accounting for $147 billion a year in medical bills. Experts at Johns Hopkins project that by 2015, 75% of Americans will be overweight or obese, calling the trend “a public health crisis.” Rather than accept it, why not fight the fat? It starts and ends with taxpayers, so why not grease the wheels with a fat tax?

The biggest reason people are obese is the way they eat. And cheap, fast food is at the congested heart of the matter. According to TIME Magazine, it is the largesse of taxpayers that enables McDonald’s to offer a Big Mac, fries and a Coke for under $5. Our tax dollars underwrite USDA subsidies to corn farmers. Cheap, abundant corn feeds our obsession with beef and pork, whose mass production relies on low-cost, unsanitary methods masked by antibiotics. All to feed America’s insatiable appetite for self destruction. Seen the glut of commercials touting bacon cheeseburgers lately? Given that the industry spends $10 billion in annual advertising, I reckon so. Heard of Burger King’s new “Enormous Omelet Sandwich?” Or Hardee’s “Monster Thickburger,” weighing in at 1,420 calories and 107 grams of fat? Yes, they chose those names, not me. And their branding gurus make fat sound cool. According to MSNBC, the fun and games are a result of a “race among fast-food companies to lure customers with bigger, fattier and more filling menu offerings.”

Well, I’m glad someone’s running. Unfortunately, the only fast track the people buying this value-priced smorgasbord of excess are currently on is a one-way to the ER preceded by a pit stop at the newly expanded Big & Tall section of their friendly, accommodating, neighborhood Wal-Mart.

Sadly, our culture of obesity – in which fat is the new normal – is costing us dearly and will likely kill us unless we come to terms with the fact that it’s not healthy and it’s not good, not for individuals, not for our country, and certainly not for taxpayers.

You see, after our tax-payer subsidized corporate agriculture industry enables fast-food giants to ply us with sinful delights for some denomination of 99 cents, our obesity bloats our health costs, which in turn must be underwritten in some way or another by guess who? Taxpayers, the go-to item on the Congressional drive-thru menu. So as taxpayers fund the subsidies for the cheap entrees and pick up the tab for the care and drugs for the generously included sides of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, etc., I’m left wondering: who’s profiting?

When I diagrammed the cycle of profiteering, I came up with: agribusiness, pharmaceuticals (70% of anti-microbial drugs are administered to animals, not humans), food manufacturers, fast-food/restaurants, and finally health care and pharmaceuticals (again) trying to clean up the mess. Perhaps I should include leather goods companies benefiting from selling longer belts or lumber companies supplying extra wood for super-sized coffins?

Interestingly, when I cross-referenced the beneficiaries with the ranking of Top 50 Congressional contributors I discovered a Double Whopper: Health Professionals (#2), Insurance (#6), Pharmaceuticals (#11), Hospitals (#21), Crop Production (#22), Food & Beverage (#39), and Food Processing/Sales (#50). How’s that for a Monstrous Combo Meal?

Apparently, our tax dollars and special interest contributions have engendered subsidies to a system designed to make us sick at our own expense. So, as we consider how to pay for health care reform, we should consider this tasty approach:

Tax fast food and high-fat, processed foods. Place a surtax on companies profiting from the sale of such foods. Shift subsidies away from corn towards the production of fresh fruits and vegetables as well as organic, sustainable farming so that healthier, more natural food becomes as affordable and accessible as Chicken McNuggets.

While we’re at it, let’s regulate fast food advertising so our kids aren’t brainwashed to seek out happiness in a vacuous meal by age 3.

Finally, I respectfully suggest that the First Lady build on the success of her organic garden to lead the fight against fast food as a fundamental component of the White House’s proposed health care reform.

After all, the best place to start reforming our broken health care system is by first nourishing a healthier America. How’s that for a Big Mac Attack?

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Rudy Ruiz.

Rudy Ruiz has been hailed as a cultural visionary. A published author and multicultural advocate, Ruiz is an acclaimed multicultural communications entrepreneur. He founded Red, Brown and Blue as well as Interlex, one of the nation’s leading advocacy marketing agencies ranked by Ad Age as one of the Top US Agencies across all disciplines. Prior to that, Ruiz earned his BA in Government at Harvard College and his Masters in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Les voy a dar mucho en qué pensar. Porqué no gravar la grasa?

Gravamos los cigarros, la gasolina y el alcohol para disuadir a las personas de consumirlos y para ayudar a sufragar el daño que ocasionan. Entonces, porqué no gravar la comida chatarra para disminuir su atractivo y también para cubrir los costos generados por el creciente agobio de la obesidad? Para mayor conveniencia y celeridad, yo empezaría por ordenar se aplicase un impuesto a la comida rápida, pronto.

Hay que admitirlo, las dos terceras partes de los americanos son víctimas de la epidemia de obesidad. Nuestro talle nacional se correlaciona con nuestro abultado presupuesto de salubridad que representa un total de $147 billones anuales en facturas por atención médica. Los expertos en Johns Hopkins proyectan que para el año 2015, el 75% de los americanos estarán pasados de peso o francamente obesos, y llaman a esta tendencia una “crisis pública de salud”. En lugar de aceptarlo, porqué no luchar contra la gordura? Inicia y termina con los contribuyentes, así que, porqué no “untar las ruedas de grasa” con un impuesto a la gordura?

La principal causa de la obesidad de la gente es la forma que come. Y la comida rápida y barata es el congestionado corazón del asunto. De acuerdo a la revista TIME

es la generosidad de los contribuyentes lo que permite a McDonald,s ofrecer un Big Mac, papas fritas y una Coca Cola por menos de $5. Nuestros impuestos suscriben los subsidios que otorga el Departamento de Agricultura de los Estados Unidos a los productores de maíz. El abundante y barato maíz alimenta nuestra obsesión con la carne de res y de puerco cuya producción en masa depende de métodos insalubres y de bajo costo disfrazados por antibióticos. Todo para alimentar el apetito insaciable de América por la auto-destrucción. Ha visto usted recientemente el exceso de comerciales de hamburguesas con queso y tocino? Dado que la industria gasta $10 billones anuales en publicidad, me imagino que sí. Ha oído hablar del nuevo “Enorme Sándwich de Omelet” de Burger King?” O el “Monster Thickburger” (que significa algo así como Monstruosa Gruesburguesa) que contiene 1,420 calorías y 107 gramos de grasa? Ah, y quiero aclarar que ellos escogieron esos nombrecitos, no fui yo. Y los maestros de publicidad que contratan hacen que la grasa parezca atractiva. De acuerdo a MSNBC , la diversión y los juegos son resultado de una carrera entre las compañías de comida rápida para atraer clientela con opciones más grandes, grasosas y más llenadoras.”

Bueno, al menos me alegro que alguien corra. Desafortunadamente, la única vía rápida en que se encuentran las personas que compran este excesivo bufet es de un solo sentido y conduce directo a la Sala de Urgencias, con una parada previa en la nueva y ampliada sección para personas Grandes y Altas de la amistosa y complaciente tienda Wal-Mart de su colonia.

Tristemente, nuestra cultura de obesidad – en la cual la gordura es ahora normal – nos está costando muy cara y muy probablemente va a matarnos a menos que aceptemos que no es saludable ni buena; no es buena para las personas, no es buena para el país, y ciertamente no es buena para los contribuyentes.

Verá, después que nuestra subsidiada industria agrícola corporativa permite a los gigantes de la comida rápida manejarnos con pecaminosos bocados por solamente 99 centavos, nuestra obesidad hincha nuestros costos de salud, que a la vez deben ser suscritos de una u otra forma por adivine quien? Los contribuyentes, el platillo preferido del menú “drive-thru” del Congreso. Así que son los contribuyentes quienes aportan los fondos para los subsidios a las comidas baratas y después pagan la factura por el cuidado y las medicinas para las guarniciones generosamente incluidas, como enfermedad del corazón, diabetes, alta presión, desordenes del sueño, etc. Y yo me pregunto: quién está sacando provecho?

Preparé un diagrama con el ciclo de las ganancias y encontré que son: las empresas agrícolas y farmacéuticas (el 70% de las drogas anti-microbianas no se administran a los seres humanos, sino a los animales), los fabricantes de alimentos, los restaurantes de comida rápida, y finalmente los proveedores de salud y las compañías farmacéuticas (otra vez!) tratando de reparar el daño. Tal vez debería incluir también a los fabricantes de artículos de piel que se benefician fabricando cinturones más grandes o las compañías madereras que venden madera adicional para la fabricación de ataúdes más grandes?

Es interesante que cuando hice una comparación entre estos beneficiarios y los 50 mayores contribuyentes al Congreso.

Descubrí un “Double Whopper”: Profesionales de la Salud (#2), Compañías de Seguros (#6), compañías farmacéuticas (#11), Hospitales (#21), Producción de Cultivos (#22), Bebidas y Alimentos (#39), y Procesamiento y Ventas de Alimentos (#50). Qué tal? No es ese un Combo Monstruoso?

Aparentemente, nuestros impuestos y las contribuciones de los intereses especiales han engendrado subsidios a un sistema diseñado para enfermarnos y cobrarnos por ello. Así pues, al considerar la manera de costear la reforma al sistema de salud, deberíamos tomar en cuenta este apetitoso enfoque:

Gravemos la comida rápida y los alimentos procesados con alto contenido de grasa. Apliquemos una sobretasa a las compañías que se benefician de la venta de esos alimentos. Retiremos los subsidios al maíz y utilicemos esos fondos para la producción de frutas y vegetales frescos, para apoyar una agricultura orgánica y sostenible que dé como resultado que la comida natural y sana sea tan accesible y barata como los Chicken McNuggets.

Y ya que estamos haciendo mejoras, reglamentemos la publicidad de la comida rápida para evitar que a nuestros hijos les laven el cerebro y para los 3 años los tengan convencidos de que la felicidad se encuentra en la comida chatarra.

Finalmente y con todo respeto sugiero que la Primera Dama saque provecho del éxito de su huerta orgánica para encabezar la batalla contra la comida rápida, como componente fundamental de la reforma a la salud propuesta por la Casa Blanca.

Después de todo, el mejor lugar para empezar a reformar nuestro quebrado sistema de salud es brindando nutrición para un país más sano. Eso sí sería un buen Ataque de Big Mac!!

Rudy Ruiz es conocido como un visionario cultural. Autor y campeón de los derechos de comunidades multiculturales, Ruiz es un destacado empresario de comunicaciones. Fundó Red, Brown and Blue e Interlex, una de las agencias de mercadeo social más reconocidas en la nación, proclamada por Ad Age como una de las agencias de publicidad más importantes en el pais. Anteriormente, Ruiz se graduó de Harvard College y obtuvo su maestría en Administración Pública en el Harvard Kennedy School.