OPINION: Back to our big problem — Here’s a 2014 campaign question: What’s your plan to improve Alabama’s poor health stats?

March 30--In a campaign video released last week, an Alabama congressional candidate tells the camera, "We're down here to have a little fun today and talk about two serious subjects: the Second Amendment and see how much damage we can do to this copy of Obamacare."

With that, Will Brooke proceeds to fire all manner of weaponry at the thousands of pages that make up the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Finally -- spoiler alert! -- the candidate heaves the whole mess into a woodchipper.

Brooke, who in the video looks and sounds like a character from a John Grisham legal thriller, is a Republican seeking the seat that Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Vestavia Hills, will vacate at the end of the current term.

Hey, give Brooke credit. He's in a crowded field of Republican hopefuls vying for an open seat in Congress. You gotta find a way to stand out, and this video put his candidacy on the radar.

The whole episode got me to thinking. What if Brooke, Alabama's governor, the majority of the state Legislature and the Republicans in our congressional delegation -- whose members have voted more than 40 times to repeal Obamacare -- got their wish?

What if we woke up tomorrow morning and -- poof! --Obamacare didn't exist?

A majority of Americans, according to recent polling on the law, would likely be happy. Support for Obamacare is down to 26 percent, according to an Associated Press-GfK survey released Friday. More than 60 percent of Americans disapprove.

Even some health-care experts who are nominal supporters might not be too disappointed if Obamacare went away. In their eyes, the law is a product of Washington's political meat-grinder, meaning it's a compromised and overly complicated version of health-care reform. It's also sorely in need of upgrades that aren't likely because of partisan gridlock.

OK, let's say Obamacare is gone. What next?

In Alabama, too many residents are burdened with poor health. That's true with Obamacare and it's true without it. To give us a sense of the scope of Alabama's health problems, here are some recent statistics:

From "The County Health Rankings & Roadmaps" released last week by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute:

--Years of potential life lost before age 75 per 100,000 population (age-adjusted):

Calhoun County: 11,097

Alabama: 9,609

--Adults reporting fair or poor health (age-adjusted):

Calhoun County: 23 percent

Alabama: 21 percent

--Low birthweight:

Calhoun County: 9 percent

Alabama: 10.4 percent

--Adult smoking:

Calhoun County: 24 percent

Alabama: 22 percent

--Adult obesity:

Calhoun County: 33 percent

Alabama: 33 percent

--Physical inactivity (adults aged 20 and older reporting no leisure-time physical activity):

Calhoun County: 33 percent

Alabama: 31 percent

--Uninsured:

Calhoun County: 17 percent

Alabama: 17 percent

--Children in poverty:

Calhoun County: 31 percent

Alabama: 28 percent

From the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation's "State Health Facts" database:

-- Infant mortality rate (deaths per 1,000 live births):

Alabama: 9.2

United States: 6.6

--Children ages 10-17 who are overweight or obese:

Alabama: 35 percent

United States: 31.3 percent

--Cancer deaths per 100,000 population:

Alabama 191.7

United State: 172.8

--Adults who have ever been told by a doctor that they have diabetes:

Alabama: 12.3 percent

United States: 10.2 percent

--Life expectancy at birth:

Alabama: 75.4 years

United States: 78.9 years

--Deaths due to heart diseases per 100,000 population:

Alabama: 236

United States: 179.1

--Adults who visited the dentist or dental clinic within the past year:

Alabama: 58.6 percent

United States: 65.5 percent

--Deaths per 100,000 population caused by influenza and pneumonia:

Alabama: 18.7

United States: 15.1

If you haven't done so already, seeking improvement on these woes belongs on your prayer list. And while we await divine intervention, there are a few things we mortals here in Alabama could do.

Which brings us back to those men and women seeking our votes in the 2014 election.

So, Mr. or Ms. Candidate promising to beat back Obamacare, what do you intend to do about the poor health of so many of the Alabamians you wish to represent?

Let's get one thing straight from the outset: There is no law or single policy that improve our plight.

Still, doing nothing isn't an option. A state wrestling with the problems associated with large numbers of unhealthy people will never reach its full economic potential.

We're all in this, including businesses, nonprofits, churches, state and local governments and, of course, at-risk individuals who must begin to make smarter lifestyle choices.

That said, these office-seekers tell us they are leaders. Now would be a great time for them to share their ideas to lower our high rates of infant mortality, low birth weight, smoking and obesity. Give us something to shoot at other than a printed-out copy of Obamacare.

Bob Davis is associate publisher/editor of The Anniston Star. Contact him at 256-235-3540 or [email protected]. Twitter: EditorBobDavis.

___

(c)2014 The Anniston Star (Anniston, Ala.)

Visit The Anniston Star (Anniston, Ala.) at www.annistonstar.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services