Health Blog

             While I think that this video presents some great information, I don’t think a policy should be enacted that interferes too heavily with an individual’s life. For instance, if a policy was enacted that everyone must exercise thirty minutes a day, what would the consequences be if they failed to reach that mark? Who is going to be the “exercise police” and hand out these citations? I just don’t think enacting a policy that requires people to exercise is feasible. This idea reminds me of seat belt violations. Something that is hard to enforce and in the end, only hurts the individual that chose to ignore the consequences. My policy would be a plan of encouragement. I would not set out a required amount of time everyone must exercise every day. The best that can be done is to let people know the benefits of working out and the likely consequences if they do not. In the end, the decision will fall onto individual choices.

            However, I can think of a couple ways that the government can get involved to make a difference in the level of health in our country. First of all, I am all for the governmental encouragement of exercise. Just as Al Gore used his political fame as Vice President and Presidential candidate to relay his message in “An Inconvenient Truth”, Presidents and others in authority can encourage constituents to exercise and point out its vast amount of benefits. Another aspect that I find crucial that lends itself to government intervention comes in the form of the foods we consume. I like the idea of government forcing restaurants, grocery stores, etc to let consumers know what is in their food and its level of health. Before I moved to Arizona, I used to work at a grocery store called Festival Foods. At Festival Foods, they had a ranking system of 1 – 100 that appeared next to the product’s price to give individuals an easy scale to understand how healthy the foods were that they were buying. To make it simple, one was low and one hundred was to model the perfect food. I am not exactly sure what factors were all considered in their scale, which prevents me from knowing how it’s true accuracy, but I found them to be on the right track in their thinking.

            Healthcare reform is an attempt by the government to improve the health system in this country by making it available to more citizens. There is much thought surrounding its implementation, both economic and health concerns are at central focus. The first area to consider will fall on the health concerns. According to the article The Biggest Losers, self-employed, small business employees, the poor, and those with health conditions would be lacking coverage or forced to pay the most if comprehensive health fails to be enacted. According to The Cost of Failure to Enact Health Reform, the failure to enact healthcare reform would result in an increase of uninsured Americans, more uninsured middle and upper class individuals, rising premiums, etc. As made apparent in these two articles, the health consequences would be dramatic if comprehensive health reform were to fail.

            To be objective, one must look at the other side of the issue: economic concerns. A major concern from How Does Health Reform Affect the Health Care Workforce?, is the ability of health care facilities to be able to accommodate a large influx of new patients. The amount of administrative staff would dramatically increase, which in turn increases the financial burden on the facility. These rising costs are just one economic area to consider when thinking about the passage of health reform. Another area to consider comes from The PROMETHEUS Bundled Payment Experiment where all costs of an episode are bundled together, instead of fees for every service received for the same problem. After three pilot tests, this new method has yet to prove itself as effective or cost saving. While some are still hopeful, it is apparent that it will still take more time to perfect this system if it is to be used in the future.

            After I have been given the opportunity to do some research on this issue, I find that I do not like having to consider the costs of health. As most advanced countries offer their citizens some sort of general health coverage, I think it is time for the United States to do the same. While there are higher costs associated with administrative staff and kinks yet to be worked out, I find this system to provide promise. As Professor Tom Holland recently pointed out in my Urban Theory 302 class, it is near impossible for an individual to live their life without ever visiting a medical professional. This gives rise to the question, is healthcare a public good? I concur with Professor Holland that it indeed is, meaning accessibility must be added to our current system. With a large chunk of our budget devoted to killing (military spending), I think it is past time to start investing in living. 

Saratoga County, New York

            After taking into account all of the benefits portrayed by these areas, I have decided to accept the position of economic development director for Saratoga County, New York. While there are many positive features to Saratoga County, I still want to take the time to highlight some I find of particular importance. Saratoga County boasts a highly educated workforce and the presence of institutions of higher learning that look continue this trend in the future. Saratoga County is now welcoming back the high tech industry, which is incredibly important as innovation becomes a means of continuing economic growth and stability. I also find it important to highlight some reasons that already make Saratoga County an attractive place for businesses. Some of these examples include outstanding infrastructure, proximity to major markets and capital, and available space for expansion. One must also not forget that already existing businesses (e.g. GE, IBM, GlobalFounders, etc) will serve as examples of success and entice more businesses to an already booming economy. One factor that may go unnoticed, but is undeniably prominent is the presence of good schools. From an earlier reading, I recall that family considerations are a major deciding point in an individual’s relocation and good schools for their children are near the top of the list. Saratoga County’s outstanding healthcare, culture, and changing of the seasons are additional factors that will work to draw people to the area. (Saratoga County, New York - Saratoga Economic Development Corporation)

            With all of its great features, Saratoga County is an ideal place for business. While it may be hard to imagine that there could be any improvements made to this community, I have one suggestion that could work to further prosper the area. I firmly believe that a world-class conference center is exactly what is needed in this community. The features of the area are so outstanding that once a prospective business is able to visit and see this environment in action, it will be near impossible for them to reject joining such a thriving atmosphere. As was pointed out in lecture, conference centers are one investment that have positive returns for the city. A great example was Tempe’s ability to court Google after the executives were able to come and see the wonders of the city (Lecture 2/2) . Our reading on economic development for this week points out that conference centers are still being built, even in a flooded market. This previous fact speaks volumes to the ability of conference centers to attract people to a location and Saratoga’s vast culture and unique seasonal activities (i.e. beautiful fall colors, winter and summer recreational opportunities) will turn the individual’s next visit into a family vacation.

            The last area that I wanted to discuss was the possible acceptance of a Hope VI grant for Saratoga County. After further review and the viewing of a documentary on the subject of Hope VI grants, I have made the difficult decision to reject the idea of a Hope VI grant for our community. This is a final decision which comes after much time and thoughtful consideration. My main piece of evidence for this decision came from the aforementioned documentary, History of Henson Village, Phoenix. While this video discusses in detail the past success of the Henson Village Project, I find myself focusing on the dominant aspect racial segregation portrayed in the video. This is not to say that I am not support of affordable housing because the reading on housing policy does suggest a correlation between affordable housing and employment growth. I would simply like to explore looking into a more progressive approach to affordable housing that embraces diversity. It is time to look past the idea of affordable housing in project form and instead look to incorporate these individuals into greater society. With all of the modernity and amenities that Saratoga County has to offer, our best opportunity to continue learning and innovation may very well come from the lessons that we can learn from each other. If I were to encourage the Hope VI grant, I would effectively continue to alienate groups from the whole. Rather, I suggest a possible re-working of the voucher system to spread these individuals throughout the area, ultimately giving them what I believe to be their and the cities best opportunity for success.