By Shae Blevins

Tonight, President Barack Obama delivered his first State of the Union address for his second term in office. Millions tuned in to the address and commented on Twitter using the hashtag #SOTU. Still, many Americans spent Fat Tuesday with family and friends partying and reflecting on indulgences to give up for Lent while the President of the United States prepared for his most important speech of the year – so far.

While the president covered a range of topics, including the economy, the budget, gun violence, immigration, job creation and the housing market, he spent very little time discussing the large, anticipated elephant in the room.

No. Not the Easter-colored ties of Vice President Biden and Speaker Boehner. We are talking about health care.

At the beginning of the State of the Union address, President Obama said that the largest, most expensive cause of the United States’ long-term debt problem was the rising cost of health care for America’s aging population. His recommendation is not to cut funding from health care-related programs, such as Medicaid and Medicare, which provide health care services and discounts for the elderly and poor. The president, instead, framed national health care issues as cost problems instead of spending problems.

President Obama’s recommendations to cure the problem of health care in America are to reduce taxpayer subsidies to prescription drug companies and to ask the wealthiest senior citizens to shoulder more national health care-related responsibility instead of placing the entire burden on the middle and working class families. According to the president, the government and the American public, especially the wealthiest one percent, must do more to protect social responsibility programs, such as Medicare and Social Security, through the use of modest, bipartisan reform.

In fact, the president said he was prepared to enact reforms to achieve the same degree of health care savings within 10 years as proposed by the Simpson-Bowles commission.

The State of the Union discussed health care only briefly, but President Obama did defend the Affordable Care Act, which he said is helping slow the growth of health care costs across the nation.

President Obama: “Already, the Affordable Care Act is helping to slow the growth of health care costs.” #SOTU twitter.com/whitehouse/sta…

— The White House (@whitehouse) February 13, 2013

Of course, according to some political pundits, President Obama only accomplished his Affordable Care Act – also known as Obamacare – because he pushed it through during a Democratic-run Congress.

WaPo gives 6 Pinochios? RT @blametelford: “Already, the Affordable Care Act is helping to slow the growth of health care costs.” HA! #sotu

— David Guenthner (@DavidGuenthner) February 13, 2013

By changing the way the American government pays for health care through modest, bipartisan reform, President Obama believes that the nation can reduce long-term health care costs. Unfortunately, the State of the Union address did not report on how the president hopes to enact his future health care reforms beyond the current frame of “Obamacare.”

President Obama did say, “we must have quality, affordable health care for every American,” and that’s something we should all be able to agree on, no matter which side of the aisle you cheer for.

More Twitter reactions to the State of the Union:

President Obama: “Tonight, thanks to the grit and determination of the American people, there is much progress to report.” #SOTU

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 13, 2013

Biggest cause of our rising debt is the growing cost of #healthcare. #sotu

— PublicAgenda (@PublicAgenda) February 13, 2013

#Healthcare costs are decreasing under the #ACA. Solution is more efficient care, not fewer services. We need to keep our promises. #SOTU

— Amy Lynn Smith (@alswrite) February 13, 2013

Remember that time we passed an affordable health care law AND it got upheld by SCOTUS? #boom #progress #SOTU #healthcare

— Caleb Campbell (@calebcampbell12) February 13, 2013

To achieve @barackobama‘s #healthcare vision we need critical changes to disease #prevention. #SOTU #vegan diet @whitehouse

— PCRM(@PCRM) February 13, 2013

Disconcerting to hear no mention of the needs of our #veterans from a #healthcare perspective #SOTU via Jeffery Greenberg, Altarum

— Altarum Institute (@Altarum) February 13, 2013

2nite’s #SOTU: “Scientists are mapping the brain to unlock answers to Alzheimer’s” Join us in the movement 2 #ENDALZ bit.ly/WHOg4P

— Alzheimer’s Assoc. (@alzassociation) February 13, 2013

Also Read:

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Monday’s inauguration of President Barack Obama will be filled with pomp, circumstance, and a jam-packed schedule of invite-only events where the president and Mrs. Obama are the guests of honor. And it all starts with the Inaugural Luncheon.

This year’s luncheon is a bit on the indulgent side, admittedly. We first checked out the menu with excitement, but as we read through the three courses our smiles quickly turned to frowns, not at the extravagance of the dishes but their sky-high calorie counts.

One full serving is more than 3,000 calories! Lobster in clam chowder sauce, grilled bison and a finish of rich apple pie with homemade ice cream take no time to zip past a single day’s calorie reserve. CalorieCount.com‘s Rachel Berman, RD, CSR, CDN – who compiled this year’s Inaugural Luncheon nutritional statistics – was a little shocked by the numbers, too, and felt that although it’s fine and even healthy to treat ourselves once in a while, the figures were a bit too to justify.
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It seems as if now more than ever the current political climate is creating a massive fault line of tension under the foundation of this country. While many are ready for the elections to be over, some are still left undecided in their choice of whom they’d like to see as the next president of the United States. Election Day presents a seriously important opportunity to make a seriously important decision, and because of that, some will never even fill out a ballot.

As much as we’d love to just bury our heads and hide until after Election Day, it is nearly impossible. Propaganda is everywhere we look. While the yoga mat would seem like a nice shelter from the political storm, as yoga studios typically do not encourage wicked political debating, slander, or inappropriate propositioning, this election is different. It is spawning a nationwide kick in the asana.

In an effort to motivate yogis into action, celebrity yoga teacher and activist Seane Corn put her tenacious attitude to work and has reintroduced yoga to politics. Together with Congressman Tim Ryan and many others, Corn founded YogaVotes, a nonpartisan campaign to get yogis to the polling stations in 2012.

Believing that the yoga mat is too small of a space to express human potential, Corn created an avenue for people to practice political action and bring unity to what she refers to as a “hyper-partisan” country. Not only can individuals sign on to become YogaVotes leaders, yoga studios can also commit to extend the philosophies brought on by yoga out into the greater community via political activism.
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To some, asking who you’re voting for in this year’s election is seen as an invasion of privacy. However, others are very vocal about who they will be voting for this year. With health care being one of the biggest issues in the election, do you wonder who the doctors will be voting for? According to an MDLinx poll, hospital-based physicians will vote for President Obama while solo practitioners will vote for Mr. Romney.

MDLinx surveyed over 4681 U.S. physicians and asked which presidential candidate they support, and they found the support depended upon their place of employment. President Obama was supported by most hospital-based physicians by a 47 to 37 percent margin, with 12 percent of doctors undecided. But doctors with their own practices prefer Romney by 58 to 28 percent with 11 percent undecided.

Stephen Smith, Chief Marketing Officer for MDLinx, commented on the survey. “Health care has charged to the top of the campaigns’ messaging this year, and U.S. physicians have a lot invested in the direction taken in the next administration.” Also, Smith mentions, “Nearly one-third said that their vote was ‘completely’ or ‘mostly’ influenced by the candidates’ health care policy.”

What exactly are President Obama’s and Mr. Romney’s plans for health care? President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known as “ObamaCare,” reforms imposed regulations on private health insurance providers. The act made changes to ensure better coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions and improve coverage for those with Medicare.
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It’s Friday, meaning it is time for a dose of healthy news. Join us for the #HealthBuzz chat on Twitter @DietsinReview to discuss each of these stories live.

#HealthBuzz kicks off at 12:00 p.m. CST – We look forward to seeing you there to discuss this week’s top stories.

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