Mother’s Little Helper

I Love Bernie, But… We Can’t Medicate Our Way Out of This

(Writer’s note: I’ve been lucky to travel to Europe many times over the decades, especially with my older son attending college the last four years in The Netherlands. And it never ceases to amaze me how generally healthier the food is here, how so many people are outdoors, walking and/or riding bicycles. Even when the weather is bad. And the stats back up my observations: people are generally healthier in European countries. Anyway, I am writing this essay while in Rotterdam, and what I am seeing (and have seen in the past) inspired me to write the below.)

I love Bernie Sanders. I do. I’ve voted for him, contributed money to his campaigns, and watched him get screwed over by the Democratic Party and the mainstream media. I love what he’s doing now, calling out both political parties, and both parties absolutely need to be called out.

His fight for Medicare for All is righteous, long overdue, and rooted in logic and compassion. But I want to add to what he wants: universal healthcare, while necessary, isn’t enough.

Because it doesn’t matter how accessible healthcare is if Americans are still living lives that slowly, silently destroy their health.

We are the richest nation on Earth, and yet we are metabolically broken. Over 93 percent of Americans are not metabolically healthy.

That means the vast majority of us are walking around with poor blood sugar regulation, inflammation, nutrient deficiencies, and early signs of chronic disease. Or actual chronic disease.

The average American life expectancy is actually declining—and we now rank lower than dozens of other countries that spend a fraction of what we do on healthcare. We spend the most, for less.

That makes no sense, and it’s not sustainable.

It’s not just a healthcare problem. It’s a lifestyle, food, environment, and policy problem. It’s a result of decades of processed foods, sedentary living, poor sleep, toxic exposures, chronic stress, and a system that profits from sickness rather than health.

So yes, I want everyone to have access to doctors and hospitals without going bankrupt. But I also want them to not need to see the doctor so often. We have a supply and demand problem, meaning our supply of sick people is way too large and we need to reduce the demand.

Currently, we have a disease management system, or what I call a very sick, sick care system. One that waits until you’re sick, then drowns you in pills, surgeries, and bills. One that treats symptoms, not root causes.

And where the heck have our politicians and our public health officials been in all this? When was the last time you heard one of them say, clearly and consistently, that metabolic health is the foundation of health? That improving immune function starts with what we eat, how we move, how we sleep, how we manage stress? That most chronic illness is preventable—not through prescription drugs, but through daily lifestyle choices?

Mostly silence.

Many other countries with universal healthcare also have healthier food systems, fewer toxins, walkable communities, and cultures that value exercise, rest and connection. We have junk food in schools, a soda aisle the length of a football field, and screens and social media that feed anxiety and division.

Right now, the United States literally can't afford Medicare for All. Not because the idea is flawed, but because our population is so chronically sick that the cost would be astronomical. And we know nothing is free—taxpayer dollars would foot the bill.

So the opportunity exists: the two goals go hand in hand. If we can lower demand for medical care by helping people get healthier—truly healthier—we can start to lower costs. Prevent disease on a national scale, and those savings can help fund the very system we want to build.

So here’s my ask: let’s fight for Medicare for All, but let’s also fight for Wellness for All. That means:

• Reclaiming public health and returning it to communities.

• Funding public health campaigns that actually work—not just pharmaceutical ads.

• Making whole, unprocessed food affordable and accessible.

• Teaching kids (and adults) how to cook and move their bodies.

• Cleaning up our water, air, and consumer products from endocrine disruptors and carcinogens.

• Shifting healthcare to include nutrition, prevention, and lifestyle medicine—not just reactive prescriptions.

• Taking pharmaceutical ads off television. Only one other country in the world—New Zealand—allows direct-to-consumer drug advertising. The rest understand how dangerous it is to let profit-driven companies pitch prescription drugs like candy bars.

• Exploring ways to incentivize health through the tax code. Could we offer tax breaks for gym memberships, CSA boxes, functional medicine visits, or clean energy home upgrades that reduce exposure to indoor pollutants? It’s tricky—health is hard to measure could be easy to fake—but if we can reward people for installing solar panels, surely we can find creative ways to reward people for taking care of their bodies, too. I’d love to hear your ideas on this.

This country doesn’t need more Ozempic. (Don’t even get me started.) It needs more education about metabolic health, insulin resistance, and inflammation—terms most Americans have never even heard, despite them being at the core of nearly every chronic illness.

Bernie’s vision is a beautiful beginning. But if we stop there—if we think a government-paid hospital bill is the same as true health—we’ve missed the point.

We can’t medicate our way out of a lifestyle problem.

We need Medicare for All. But we also need public health policies that actually promote public health. Because good health doesn’t come exclusively from possessing a Medicare card.

What are your thoughts?