Health & National Security

People like to pretend that health policy is a side issue. Something separate from the economy and from security. In reality it sits at the center of both.

A workforce with untreated chronic disease is less productive, more absent and more likely to leave the labor force early. That means slower growth, weaker businesses and a smaller tax base.

A pool of potential recruits who grew up without steady care is less fit for military service. Add mental health neglect and addiction and the recruitment challenge becomes even worse. If you want strong borders, you need strong bodies behind them. Those bodies do not appear by magic at age eighteen. They start as kids who need checkups, vaccinations and dental care. They grow into adults who need mental health support, addiction treatment and chronic disease management.

There is also a more basic security argument. Extreme inequality in health access creates anger and instability. When large groups feel abandoned, they do not sit quietly forever. Keeping poor and working class neighborhoods healthy is not only a moral question. It is a way to avoid the kind of breakdowns that eventually reach gated communities as well.

The National Health Plan treats health as infrastructure. Like roads and bridges, it is something you build and maintain for everyone because the whole country depends on it. If the poor stay sick, the middle class will pay for it in crime, instability and emergency bailouts. If the poor stay healthy and able to work, everyone benefits in lower taxes, safer streets and a stronger economy.