How Healthcare Hurts America's Budget
KC Taylor: It’s the vital sign of American life. But what do the latest
stats reveal about you?
Female: Yes, a lot about weight people in America.
Female: I think I'm a lot more health conscious that I was a few
years ago.
KC Taylor: The US spends $2 trillion on healthcare. For the first time
in decades the number of smokers is on the decline and
ones death sentences breast and prostate cancers are now
the most survivable forms of cancer.
Penelope Slade-Sawyer: If you ask a number of different people, is health in
America improving or not, you will get many different
answers.
KC Taylor: 16% of our gross domestic product is spent on helping the
sick yet we live shorter lives than Japan, Switzerland,
Canada and Britain.
Even our children are not immune. The US ranks 29th in
infant mortality tied with Slovakia and Poland. It turns out
the number one killer of Americans young and old is not
cancer. It's not a flu or infection.
Penelope Slade-Sawyer: The number one caused of death in America is coronary
heart disease.
KC Taylor: Two out of three people are obese. One of four suffers high
blood pressure.
Female: I don’t think that I have the risk factors, big wake-up call
and one of those things that I was totally not expecting.
KC Taylor: But the unexpected can happen and it will if we don’t
change. This is KC Taylor reporting.
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