This week was the homestretch for Obamacare enrollment, with the deadline to sign up without penalty arriving tomorrow. On Thursday, the White House announced that enrollments had exceeded the CBO's estimate of 6 million. No doubt, furious debate over the program will continue into the midterm election, even as one poll finds 53 percent of Americans are tired of the endless back and forth. But now that this phase is done, how about instead of debating health insurance we focus on actual health care? Let's start with the fact that 75 percent of health care spending, and two-thirds of doctor visits, are for preventable chronic stress-related conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. As important as it is, extending access to a flawed notion of health care isn't enough. Sick care is a lot more expensive than true health care. So what if we now redirect all this energy into finding ways to prevent as many people as possible from needing treatment, whether they have insurance or not?
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This week was the homestretch for Obamacare enrollment, with the deadline to sign up without penalty arriving tomorrow. On Thursday, the White House announced that enrollments had exceeded the CBO's estimate of 6 million. No doubt, furious debate over the program will continue into the midterm election, even as one poll finds 53 percent of Americans are tired of the endless back and forth. But now that this phase is done, how about instead of debating health insurance we focus on actual health care? Let's start with the fact that 75 percent of health care spending, and two-thirds of doctor visits, are for preventable chronic stress-related conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. As important as it is, extending access to a flawed notion of health care isn't enough. Sick care is a lot more expensive than true health care. So what if we now redirect all this energy into finding ways to prevent as many people as possible from needing treatment, whether they have insurance or not?

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