I Support Whole Foods on Healthcare

As some may know, John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Markets recently wrote an editorial for the Wall Street Journal on health care. Since it does not endorse President Obama's plan, in fact, it calls for less government involvement and for individual empowerment, many on the left have called for a boycott. And some from the other side are calling for us to support Whole Foods. Lets consider the post by the Moderate Voice, which doesn't seem very moderate.

Whole Foods CEO John Mackey shot his company in the face the other day with an anti-health care op-ed screed in the Wall Street Journal.

Now, nothing in the editorial is anti-health care. Nor does it fit the definition of screed. Other than the call for tort reform, none of Mackey's bulleted proposals should have any objection from anybody. He calls for more transparency, more competition, and more tax equality, along with fiscal responsibility. Please, find something to object to there.

Another leftist blogger characterizes the post as

"he argues for insurance industry deregulation and a shrinking of the Medicare program".

Please, read the editorial. Technically, he does call for less regulation, so as to reduce the influence of industry lobbyists and increase competition. He calls for "reform" of Medicare, since it heading towards bankruptcy. Does this make him a shill for Newt Gingrich or the dreaded "drug companies"? No. These harsh and over the top reactions from the left are reminiscent of the "death panel" claims by the right. Both have a very feeble grasp of reality.

Mackey then calls for Americans to take some responsibility.

we need to address the root causes of poor health. This begins with the realization that every American adult is responsible for his or her own health.

Unfortunately many of our health-care problems are self-inflicted: two-thirds of Americans are now overweight and one-third are obese. Most of the diseases that kill us and account for about 70% of all health-care spending—heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes and obesity—are mostly preventable through proper diet, exercise, not smoking, minimal alcohol consumption and other healthy lifestyle choices.

In conclusion, I'd like to quote most of a comment by Desider on Open Left.

Thank you for letting me know (4.00 / 1)

that you folks are a bunch of intolerant idiots.

What did this guy say so horribly?

That boomers are retiring, so fewer workers will be paying in while our deficits go up, so we need to cut the cost of entitlements, not increase them, especially for Medicare. [If we pay twice as much as other countries per capita, as Bob Somerby of Daily Howler keeps pointing out, shouldn't health insurance reform bring some of the costs in check, not increase them?]

That his company gets low insurance rates by going with high deductibles, and uses Wellness Accounts to roll over savings for the employees. [I use high deductibles myself, since I've gone more than a decade without seeing a doctor].

Make personal insurance tax deductible like corporate already is. Good idea, no?

Allow insurance competition across state lines. [Making insurance companies competitive, more responsive to customers and lower cost is a good thing, no?]

Make costs of treatment transparent. [Kinda obvious?]

He notes that at Whole Foods employees vote on what they want company health insurance to fund. [Workers' rights?]