Don't need health care reform?

If anyone still says we don't need to reform health care in America, point out the following new study, in addition to all the existing data there is out there:

"Mothers are giving birth to lighter babies in the U.S., and no one is quite sure why."

"The finding, published Thursday in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, has potentially troubling public-health implications, if the trend continues. Low-birth-weight babies are at higher risk for a host of health problems."

"Between 1990 and 2005, the birth weight of full-term babies in the U.S. declined nearly two ounces to an average of 7 pounds, 7.54 ounces, a reversal of a trend that had seen birth weights climb steadily since the 1950s, according to the study. Babies were also born 2.5 days earlier on average in 2005 than in 1990, the study said."

It goes on:

"The results are 'surprising and unexpected,' said Emily Oken, an author of the paper and an assistant professor of population medicine at Harvard Medical School. "We do need to keep a close eye on the babies that are the smallest babies to see if the proportion of those is increasing over time, because they may require extra resources and have extra health concerns,' she said."

If this most expensive of health care systems in the world that we have here in the US--and it is--is the best in the world, as people claim, why do we now have this additional issue/potential problem?

And check this out, it isn't just minorities and/or the poor to whom this is happening, either:

"Researchers repeated their analysis in a sample of low-risk women—healthy, educated Caucasians in their mid-to-late 20s—and found that the decrease in birth weight was even more pronounced, suggesting that the trend wasn't the result of changes in the population of mothers."

The fact is, for the most money we can spend in the world in every measure, the only ones benefitting from all the money spent are the insurance companies and corporations.

We're getting less healthy.

We rank 37th, internationaly, when considering mortality rates. (Read: when people die).

That's behind Costa Rica, people.

If you don't think we need health care reform, please do some research. You will find out differently.

If you know, as I do, that we do need this reform--and desperately--contact your congressional representatives now. Email them and tell them we need this.

Hopefully it's not too late.

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For lots more data--hard statistics--on the US' health care system and how expensive, ineffective and downright unhealthy it is, go here.