Here’s the Deal: What’s next for health care?
The Washington health debate has largely overlooked the fact that America is getting sicker. There is some slight good news here, as obesity levels seem to be flattening. But this is after a dramatic increase over the past 20 years. Here are some major problem areas as we enter 2018:
- Chronic illness. Some 45 percent of American adults have at least one chronic disease, and that number is expected to rise.
- Obesity. More than one in three American adults is considered obese. The figure is one in six for children ages 2 to19.
- Diabetes. The national diabetes rate has doubled in 20 years. The Centers for Disease Control believes that if current trends continue, one-third of American adults will have diabetes by 2050.
- Heart disease. Cardiac diseases remain the leading killer in the United States. The CDC predicts that the number of Americans with heart disease will leap another 46 percent by 2030.
- Alzheimer’s. While the rates of Alzheimer’s incidence may have flattened, there is no question that the number of Americans who will live with the disease is expected to rise substantially as the population ages.
Summary: In short, get ready for another rocky year — or maybe two or three — of health care news.
.. How many terrorists have come from these countries? According to one researcher at the right-leaning CATO Institute, between 1975 and 2015, there have only been nine people from these eight countries to have either carried out an attack in the United States or have been convicted of planning one. Another figure from that same research: There have been zero fatal acts of terrorism conducted by an individual from any of these countries.