"This
obesity thing is going to eat us alive if we don't do something
about it," said former president Bill Clinton
during a keynote address at the Kellogg School on May 19.
Mr.
Clinton spoke about a range of health issues facing the United
States during his appearance at the "Perspectives in
Healthcare Forum," co-sponsored by the Huron Consulting
Group and the Kellogg School. The daylong event convened healthcare
leaders to consider challenges facing their field, including
an aging U.S. population, rising health costs and issues related
to access, efficiency and quality of care.
Mr.
Clinton candidly surveyed the landscape confronting patients,
medical professionals and insurance companies today, expressing
his belief that all Americans should have access to affordable
care. He also suggested that the U.S. healthcare system was
both ineffective and costly. The former president cited figures
such as the 16 percent of U.S. GDP that Americans spend on
healthcare, a number that he said still leaves 15 percent
of peopleuninsured, even though the system is more
expensive than all other advanced countries, which are spending
about 10 percent to insure nearly 100 percent of their citizens.
