Mitch Daniels is probably the only governor with his workout schedule posted on the Internet. Indiana’s chief executive has always exercised, but when Mitch (as almost everyone in the Hoosier state calls him) started to address the state’s health care problems he discovered that it was the 16th most obese state in the country and 6th among all states in smoking prevalence. So he started INShape Indiana, a program that provides individuals and companies with personalized information on smoking cessation, exercise, nutrition, weight loss. Since then, cigarette sales are down and Indiana’s obesity ranking has stabilized.
INShape Indiana reflects Daniels’s broader approach to health care: Prevention is important not because it saves money but because it improves well-being. But it requires greater personal responsibility for health, changes in the way health care is paid for and, ultimately, innovations that prevent or slow the progression of diseases.
