"Sick Are We ?" Controling Medical Costs- Part FIVE

This fifth installment of my Blog on the “Business of Medicine” will be the last in the series, I feel I have “vented” enough [for the time being] .
Obviously it is a subject of great interest and concern for me as it should be for everyone, as the health of ourselves and our families is paramount.
    I have stated before that this issue is one on which many political decisions and careers are hinging. It has replaced the “War” and the “Economy” [to which it is closely tied, 17 % of our GDP is Health Care related] in the hearts and minds of most Americans.
    If you choose to reread the past installments all of them are Archived on this site, and the subject may be revisited from time to time. I have devoted most of my life to the health care field and am very concerned both as a consumer and a provider.
    One of the major problems with any issue in society, is that the public is complicity- “just leave it alone ,it will work out-it is not my problem-there is noting we can do anyway-it does not effect me and other such statements are common.”
    We cannot-“just leave it alone, it will work out” We the people must be proactive by doing what we can as individuals , if we leave it alone the Government will “Fix” it for us and I guarantee that will be UNHEALTHY.
“it is not my problem” It is YOUR problem. Unless you are perfectly healthy and do not expect to die. “there is noting we can do anyway-”  I have pointed out many ways we can and we must control our demand for “Burger King” medical care.  “it does not effect me “ Unless you are a mountain top hermit you are effected , either by high premiums for health insurance, including the inability to afford any. The quality of care you and your family does receive and increased costs reflected in the price of everything we purchase.
    Two more areas of concern before I let this subject take a “nap”
PRESCRIPTIONS - Meds, Scripts, RX’s, My Pills, The stuff I take, What ever you call them is the single, largest cause of increases in medical costs.
This may be the one area of the “Business of Medicine” in which “if you build it they will come” may be true. As a member of the Health Care Profession I am frustrated and saddened when I see so many commercials on TV and in Magazines for the latest new drug and often vanity prescription for “medical” problems, which most of us would never know we had in the first place. The most recent is an aid for men with bags under their eyes, [Good G-D, most of us were born with bags under our eyes and will certainly die with them]. ED, PAD, UTI, COPD, CAD, HBP, ADM, [it seems if we just give them initials they seem more serious] not that these problems are not significant to those who have them, but many people run to their Doctor and demand the newest and latest cure for the newest and latest medical problem [Doctors hate this and the companies who advertise like this] we have become a nation of hypochondriacs. Many Doctors dismiss immediately complaints from patients when they come in demanding a specific medication for a condition they have seen on TV. [Doctors do not LIKE to be told what to do, somehow they think their years of schooling and experience make them the expert !].
    Do you ever listen to the long, and quickly recited list of possible side effects of most of these medications ? Many people, particularly the elderly find them selves taking additional meds to control the side effects of things they may really need to sustain a quality of life. “SAY NO TO DRUGS” when you can, while I am not a big fan of “Holistic” medicine, there are many natural substances we can utilize to achieve better health. These commercials remind me of Gracie Slicks song "White Rabbit"
I mentioned in an earlier Blog how significant the Pharmaceutical business was, a major portion of their budgets go to marketing NOT research and development. They have increasingly larger sales staffs filled with MBA’s not RN’s or RPH’s. [pharmacists]

     

Finally ,there are in place fraud and abuse laws and regulations for ALL insurers including Medicare and Medicaid , if WE report violations and insist on action and compliance with current law costs will come down.

Americans get off your “hemorrhoids” ,use your “wax built up” ears, “blurry” eyes and “scratchy” throat to speak up. Use your “tired” feet to take you to the polls and use your “dry, flaky” hands to vote against ANY type of Government controlled medical plan. 

MY LIFE AND YOURS DEPENDS ON IT !