Class Matters: Social Class and Health Care

I just finally got around to starting the NY Times' special section Class Matters. I just read Life at the Top in America Isn't Just Better, It's Longer, about three people who had heart attacks. One an upper class, white, architect. One a middle class, black, Con-Ed office worker. One a working class, Polish, housekeeper.

You can probably think of what happened, how each one came about their heart attacks, which hospitals they went to, the treatment they received, the manner in which their employers handled it and the changes they themselves made as a result of the heart attacks. But to read it and see it all come true is another thing. Janny Scott does a wonderful job taking us through a slice of each of their lives. I'm gonna try to read at least one of these a day.

Class is a potent force in health and longevity in the United States. The more education and income people have, the less likely they are to have and die of heart disease, strokes, diabetes and many types of cancer. Upper-middle-class Americans live longer and in better health than middle-class Americans, who live longer and better than those at the bottom. And the gaps are widening, say people who have researched social factors in health.

As advances in medicine and disease prevention have increased life expectancy in the United States, the benefits have disproportionately gone to people with education, money, good jobs and connections. They are almost invariably in the best position to learn new information early, modify their behavior, take advantage of the latest treatments and have the cost covered by insurance.

I'm thankful for the tireless work my parents put in to afford me a great education and pushing me towards having physical and mental fitness. I have a good education. I'm not poor [but I don't have coverage]. I have great friends and I may be able to pull a string here and there if things get bad for me one way or another, but I'm no Senator or anything. But I gotta keep working to make sure all of this is for naught. I gotta stay healthy; eat right, exercise and be happy.

It's also been two weeks since I last went to the gym. Ugh. But I've been playing soccer and ultimate o the weekends and taking long walks all over town throughout the week taking photos, but that's no excuse. I started out great, going three or four times a week. I'm not sure what happened. But this week, I'm making a commitment to go. My health is too important.

Comments

[Andrew Spark]

I'm not so sure that healthcare should become more social, but in fact it should become more capitalistic. I have yet to see any socialist system which has allocated resources as efficiently as a capitalist system.