This is a good article. The author wears a hat and corretly speaks to that role.
But HEALTH is about more that Medicine and Medical Science. Look at the statistics. (was into Medicaid and Government employee statistics the last 12 years at GA DCH.)
Poor Health is a barbell. At one end are the elderly. We spend large amounts of money for medical care to extend the life of the elderly one more day, one more month.
At the other end of the barbell are several smaller, but distinct, weights. All of these come down to the choice of a poor life style.
NICU newborn babies are a horrendous expense. They exist clearly due to the poor lifestyle choices of the parents.
Pregnant moms are a horrendous expense...not all of them... only a small percentage are the big expense.
Lifestyle choices are the problem with the weights at the non-elderly end of the barbell. The way to improve health is to reduce the lifestyle choice of tobacco, vaping, alcohol, drugs, HIV and STDs.
Add in the choice of too much sugar in the diet as the next deadly sin. A PHD thesis at Emory U studied pre-clampsia and other problems of pregnant moms, new moms, and their babies. The difference between moms with problems and those with no problems in childbirth were dramatic. Some were fed “sugar water” (no brand names please) as a baby. They continued that high sugar in their diet through childhood and into young women. They are the ones with the health problems statistically.
Yes, there are other health problems. But statistically bad lifestyle choices are the #1 problem. If we want to improve the health of the “population” statistically, we need to address the bad lifestyle choices.
What can/should government do? We could pass a law that nobody with a bad lifestyle choice is eligible for Medicaid or Medicare. We make it effective for all those age 18. Each year we increase the eligibility limit by one year.
In grade school and high school we educate people to the facts of good health and of good lifestyle choices to obtain good health.
We need to be politically realistic.
Prohibition will not work. People think it is a “right” to smoke, drink, etc. They have the freedom to choose to smoke and drink. They do not have the freedom to choose to force other people to pay for their bad lifestyle choices.
Some will argue: Cut off all Medicaid to everyone. That is not politically pragmatic. It is not going to happen. The good is not the enemy of the perfect.
Yes, there are other health issues besides bad lifestyle choices. But statistically, this is the big one that can be addressed. (The alternative for the elderly at the other end of the barbell is euthanasia which I hope is not viable.)
Of course, if we spend less money on one thing, then that money is available for other things, or to pay down the national debt.
The feds about healthcare? Nothing. Just like before the 50's and 60's. The Constitution delegates no enumerative healthcare regulation to them.
One's healthcare should be a state and/or individual matter.
The quality of medical care will depend on the demand of individuals in the free market, not from unconstitutional gov't whose bias is toward the death of the individual. Easier.