According to cms.gov, National Health Expenditures in America "… grew 3.9% to $3.5 trillion in 2017," which is a truly astonishing number. If, all this money being spent on healthcare made America the healthiest nation in the world, that would be one thing, but in fact, the health statistics of America, are disappointing in comparison to other western nations, in addition to the salient fact that America outspends those other western nations at an appreciably higher level.
While there are all sorts of reasons why as well as theories on to how to best fix the nation's health expenditures conundrum, it would seem that the most obvious way to deal with these issues at hand, is to address health issues before they become chronic, through preventive medicine, and, in particular, utilizing prudent means such as vaccinations, hygiene, eating habits, diet, yearly physical examinations, blood work, and exercise.
In point of fact, most public schools require some sort of physical examination before a child is admitted to that school, and if this is not already mandated by federal fiat, should be amended by federal law, to the effect that all children attending public school, must be subject to a yearly thorough physical examination, including blood work, and any and all other sensible tasks that should be accomplished to assure that child's good health ought to be reasonably examined and dealt with, for the best time to deal with potential health issues is at the beginning, as opposed to being done so at the end.
Further to the point, this government, should provide to all adult citizens of this nation, a voucher for a free yearly medical examination, in the hopes that by doing so, that information about incipient diseases such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular issues, would be diagnosed at a much earlier stage, and therefore possibly ameliorated; rather than being diagnosed in an emergency room or similar, at a later stage in which options are more limited as well as being much more intrusive and expensive.
The health of a nation is important not only for the well being of that nation, but also for the productivity and cost efficiency of that nation. What is especially disconcerting is that America is the richest nation in the world, with the best medical facilities in the world, and arguably the best physicians in the world, but the reflection of its population in regards to its health in whole, belies those very facts.
This country should make an effort and has an obligation to make the effort to not only develop well the mind of its children in its public schools, but to pay attention to the physical body of those students, for good health habits begun at a young age have not only a good purpose, but are far better, than taking a benign neglect attitude, for mind and body do go together. So too, for adults, America needs to make it their purpose that the health of their people is a priority that needs to be properly addressed, especially for those that are of lower socioeconomic levels for their health is most at risk, because of their lack of good and affordable healthcare, which precludes them, so often, from receiving the preventive medicine that they need, resulting in an unnecessary amount of poor and debilitating bad health for them, thereby unfairly reaping the suffering, while all Americans pay that expense.