Healt Care Costs

This is an article I wrote for the Appleton Post-Crescent a couple years ago. Not much has changed yet. Enjoy and please feel free to post a comment.



Rising Health Care Costs-
Real Solutions to the Problem


Rising health care costs is a complex issue that has brought several “Band-Aid” approaches to fix. The primary focus has been the high number of un-insured and programs to provide health insurance to these approximately 40 million un-insured. A national health care plan, association health plans and managed care have been tossed around for several years. None of these programs offer any solution to our health care “crisis.”

To truly understand the health care problem, we must analyze and evaluate our current system much the same way we evaluate any other product or service. Is the current service meeting the needs of the people, and is it cost effective? Upon review, our current health care system is a dismal failure!

Every year more than $6000 is spent on health care for every man, woman and child in America. More than twice as much as any other developed country in the world spends. But what are we getting for this hefty price? The United States ranks 22nd out of 23 industrialized nations (just ahead of the Czech Republic). According the World Health Organization, we rank 37th in health performance and 72nd in efficiency. In the words of Julian Whitaker, M.D., “We are paying the most to be the worst.”

Why is our system so expensive, yet poor in keeping people healthy? There are four main culprits for this situation. And unless all four of these are changed, our health care costs will continue to rise and we will become a sicker nation.

1) Multi-national Pharmaceutical Companies. These corporate giants are the number one cause of poor health and high costs. In his book, Overdosed America, John Abramson, M.D. points out the primary mission of the drug corporations is to make money on the latest drugs. These newly patented “wonder drugs” are pitched to doctors and the public as remarkable advancements. Every third commercial on TV is for a drug! The reality is, older, less expensive drugs are usually just as good. In fact, from 1995 to 2000, only 13 percent of the new wonder drugs contained new ingredients or were significantly better than the older drugs.

This explains the high cost, but even more disturbing is the adverse effect on health these new wonder drugs have. Side effects of these new drugs are fueling the need for even more expensive medications. For every one dollar spent on prescription drugs, we spend $1.30 taking care of the side effects. Some even believe drug companies develop drugs to cause problems that are treated with other drugs they manufacture. For example, the maker of Prozac is also the largest producer of diabetes drugs. Is it really just a coincidence that one of the main side effects of Prozac is pancreas damage (the pancreas produces insulin)? Or the fact most pain relievers for arthritis cause destruction of the cartilage between joint, making the arthritis worse.

What a great scam! These companies provide the “research,” advertise to the public, “You need to ask your doctor about…” and get respected doctors to prescribe their products; no questions asked! We, the gullible public, blindly follow this advice. After all, the TV ad said I needed this.

2) Multi-National Food Companies. We spend 90 percent of our food dollars on processed foods. Processed foods are devoid of nutritional value and deteriorate our health. For years, there has been a push to raise the RDA’s of vitamins and minerals to a more realistic amount. The current RDA’s are woefully inadequate for optimal health, but the food industry has blocked every attempt to raise the RDA’s. Of course if the RDA’s were to be raised, they couldn’t advertise their cereal as having 100 percent of the vitamins and minerals you need.

3) Government Agencies. The FDA and CDC are corrupt. Both agencies policy and decision makers have financial and/or employment ties to pharmaceutical companies. Is it any wonder, dangerous drugs are allowed on the market when evidence shows them to be very dangerous (Phen-Fen, Vioxx, HRT, Prozac….)? Who is looking out for you!

4) Lack of Personal Responsibility. If you eat processed food, don’t get enough sleep and exercise and blindly follow the advice of doctors, you are a problem in the rising cost of health care. If you live your life under the assumption you can abuse and destroy your body, and the white coated gods will give you a magic pill or miraculous surgery to restore your life, you are part of the problem! If you are not willing to make the effort to improve your health, you have absolutely no right to complain about rising health care costs.

In my 16 years of clinical practice, I have observed people without health insurance versus those with “good” insurance. I have found the un-insured were usually healthier. They knew they could not afford to get sick, so they did everything they could to improve their health. They ate more fresh, whole foods, exercised regularly, and followed my recommendations closer. With “good” insurance, there was no incentive to be healthy. Someone else will pay for my illness.

To fix the rising health care cost problem will not be easy and will not happen overnight. Major changes in policy and personal attitude will need to be implemented. A ban on direct marketing to consumers by drug companies is a must. A complete overhaul of the FDA and CDC is in order. No ties to drug companies can be allowed. Period! All research on drugs must be done in the public sector. Currently, in drug company research, poor results are not published, thus every study appears to show the drug is safe.

And finally, greater personal responsibility for our own health is imperative. Become involved in your health care. Don’t blindly follow the advice of your doctor. Doctors are human and make mistakes. Ask questions, are other, less expensive drugs an option. What about nutritional or other alternative therapies. Understand that you have a direct control of health care costs. Learn from the un-insured, if you can’t afford to get sick, you better do everything you can to get healthy.

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Ronald Fischer, D.C., C.C.S.P., C.S.C.S. is the president and clinic director of NEWCARE Integrated Health Services, S.C. in Menasha. Dr. Fischer can be reached for comment via e-mail newcaredoc@aol.com