Obama Starts Takeover of Your Health

Not your health care, no. Your health.

Obama issued an Executive Order on June 10, 2010, while the rest of the country was busy watching the Gulf Oil Spill. (Thanks to my brother-in-law for sending me the link.) This order establishes another bureaucratic nightmare, the National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council. Its purpose is 7-fold (emphasis mine):

Section 3:

The Council shall:

(a) provide coordination and leadership at the Federal level, and among all executive departments and agencies, with respect to prevention, wellness, and health promotion practices, the public health system, and integrative health care in the United States;

(b) develop, after obtaining input from relevant stakeholders, a national prevention, health promotion, public health, and integrative health-care strategy that incorporates the most effective and achievable means of improving the health status of Americans and reducing the incidence of preventable illness and disability in the United States, as further described in section 5 of this order;

(c) provide recommendations to the President and the Congress concerning the most pressing health issues confronting the United States and changes in Federal policy to achieve national wellness, health promotion, and public health goals, including the reduction of tobacco use, sedentary behavior, and poor nutrition;

(d) consider and propose evidence-based models, policies, and innovative approaches for the promotion of transformative models of prevention, integrative health, and public health on individual and community levels across the United States;

(e) establish processes for continual public input, including input from State, regional, and local leadership communities and other relevant stakeholders, including Indian tribes and tribal organizations;

(f) submit the reports required by section 6 of this order; and

(g) carry out such other activities as are determined appropriate by the President.

Section 5:

The national strategy shall:

(a) set specific goals and objectives for improving the health of the United States through federally supported prevention, health promotion, and public health programs, consistent with ongoing goal setting efforts conducted by specific agencies;

(b) establish specific and measurable actions and timelines to carry out the strategy, and determine accountability for meeting those timelines, within and across Federal departments and agencies; and

(c) make recommendations to improve Federal efforts relating to prevention, health promotion, public health, and integrative health-care practices to ensure that Federal efforts are consistent with available standards and evidence.

This is all brought to you by the authority of section 4001 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148), aka Obamacare.

What concerns me is that this is not just recommendations on what people can do to be healthier, but it is intended to achieve national wellness, including on an individual level. And there will be goals and timelines and measurable activity for carrying out those goals.

What will happen if you decide you don't want to do the exercise they say you should (or your aches and pains prevent it)? Will they, as has happened in the UK, not let you get medical care because they don't think you, with your vices, deserve it?

Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but with this Administration, I don't believe I am. It's coming, and November may be our last chance to prevent it. If we can get some Republicans elected with the cojones to stop playing nice with the Dems and stand up for We The People instead.