A New Life's resolution - Day #64 (Physical) {written for 3/22/2010}

If you're just joining us, check out the explanation of my "New Life Resolution"

Day #64 - Physical

According to www.definitionofwellness.com, "The physical dimension of wellness encourages cardiovascular flexibility and strength and also encourages regular, physical activity. Physical development encourages knowledge about food and nutrition and discourages the use of tobacco, drugs and excessive alcohol consumption. Physical Wellness encourages consumption and activities which contribute to high level wellness, including medical self-care and appropriate use of the medical system.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've seen or heard quite a bit on the news lately about the passage of the 2010 Health Care Reform Bill.  I haven't read the whole thing, so I'm not going to take up your time and attention talking about the changes that it will or will not make for your and your family.  I'm also not going to go on about the misinformation being spread around in order to put fear or anger into the hearts of constituents.

Instead, this week I'd like to start all of you thinking and talking about how this bill could influence our dimensions of wellness.  If you've been tuning in to this blog for any period of time, you've probably figured out that I like it when people are paying attention and finding a way to think about these sorts of things for themselves rather than simply regurgitating whatever they hear on the TV or radio.  So I'm going to take it easy this week and simply put some questions or prompts out there.  My hope is that this will spark some conversations here or in your office or around your kitchen table with the family.

*  How will this bill affect the physical wellness of the country?
*  Will the physical health of those who currently do not have access to affordable insurance be better as a result of having access to annual physical exams, eye doctors and dentists?
*  How can physical wellness be promoted to our children in a way that makes them see the benefits down the road?  Is that possible?
*  Is this a chicken and egg problem?  Have health care costs become astronomical because we only seek treatments for disease rather than regularly seeing doctors for preventative maintainence or do we delay treatment because of the costs of the health care?

What other aspects of the health care bill have I missed as they pertain to our physical wellness?

I eagerly anticipate your thoughts about these things.