Commentary: Office Visit: And good health for all

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), May 7, 2008 by Stephen Prescott

We all know that the wealthiest among us drive nicer cars. They have bigger houses. And it may seem anti-American, but in a country founded upon the principles of all people being created equal, the affluent also live longer.

In fact, according to government statistics released earlier this year, the so-called life expectancy gap is growing.

Using census data, researchers found that a quarter-century ago, the richest Americans could expect to live 2.8 years longer than the poorest. By 2000, that gap had widened to 4.5 years (79.2 versus 74.7), and the researchers say that it continues to grow.

This report should sound an alarm here in Oklahoma. We're home to three of the nation's 100 poorest counties, and we lag the national median income level by nearly 20 percent. One in eight of our citizens live in poverty.

This is, in other words, our problem. So what to do about it?

Today, we can detect and treat many forms of cancer and heart disease, the nation's leading killers. Yet those with lower incomes are less likely to know of new diagnostics and treatments, less likely to have access to them and, with the growing numbers of uninsured, less likely to be able to pay for them.

Statistics show that among the less affluent and educated, smoking rates have declined more slowly. Poorer people are less likely to eat a healthy diet; after all, fruits and vegetables are more expensive than fatty, pre-processed foods.

What we're up against are not unsolvable medical mysteries. The adversaries we're facing here are behavioral. And societal.

At the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, we will continue developing a deeper understanding of human disease. But medical research alone cannot make headway against this growing life expectancy gap.

We also need to confront complacency, denial and ignorance. And, in this presidential election year, we must examine the way health care is paid for.

If we're to solve this problem, the solution lies in changing the behaviors of all - not just the wealthiest among us.

Stephen Prescott is president of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation and can be reached at OMRF-President@omrf.org.