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21st Century Healthcare

Patrick Cederholm
JeIIerson Community College
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ith the government looking to cut cost across the board in a bad economy one oI the
biggest costs on society is the cost oI healthcare. In the United States billions and trillions oI
dollars are spent each year treating diseases, many that could have been prevented. The baby
boomers are getting to the age where they need more and more medical care. The strain and cost
oI healthcare is going to increase exponentially. There should be more Iocus on awareness that
diseases such as heart disease, obesity, and diabetes are indeed preventable. More emphasis
needs to be spent on preventative care and alternative medicine as opposed to only treating
people aIter they are sick or the idea oI 'disease care; not only will this create a more healthy
society but will drive down healthcare cost. All oI the cost is going to the medical industry, and
the medical companies have huge proIits oII oI sick Americans. They are the true culprits.
The costs oI health care have steadily increased over the past decades. Today we spend,
as a nation, 16 percent oI the gross domestic product or GDP on health care. That is more than 2
trillion dollars. A large percentage oI this money is spent on diseases that are preventable, one oI
which is obesity. Obesity cost the United State anywhere Irom 150 to 270 billion dollars or 10
percent oI total healthcare cost alone. It is well known that overweight people are at a higher risk
oI diabetes and heart disease this compounds the cost. Not only do overweight people deal with
the threat oI heart disease, one in every three Americans has some type oI cardiovascular disease
(heart disease). Heart disease costs are around 273 billion dollars according to the American
Heart Association (2011). Diabetes, another highly preventable disease, costs where around 218
billion dollars Ior undiagnosed diabetes, pre diabetes, and gestational diabetes according to the
National Diabetes Fact Sheet (2011). All oI these costs are going to increase because all oI the
outlooks and studies suggest a higher percentage oI people in the United States will succumb to
these preventable diseases. Most oI this cost could be averted iI people took more preemptive
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measures to stay healthy. More needs to be done to address the Iact that people can avoid these
costs by taking better care oI their selves Ior prevention oI getting sick. Emphases on investing in
individual`s health and America investing in the health oI the nation as a whole would greatly
impact the high cost oI healthcare, or the 'disease-care that we truly enact.
e must move away Irom this idea oI disease care. II you watch any television at all you
will notice that all the medical related commercials are Ior medications to cure something or
another. Seemingly everyone in America is sick with something and the pharmaceutical
companies have a drug Ior it. This marketing promotes the idea oI disease care. Pharmaceutical
companies make billions oI dollars each year. They are driving the bus oI disease care. In today`s
society people are unaIraid oI becoming sick because there is a cure Ior most oI what ails people.
95 percent oI the total money spent on healthcare is spent aIter someone is already sick. From
this comes the idea oI disease care. The idea oI treating people only aIter they get sick is one oI
the reasons medical costs are so high.
II only a small amount oI that money was spent on preventive care the state oI healthcare
in the United States would be better. More awareness that preventative care and being healthy
can save the public money is needed. In a time when the economy is down it is more important
than ever to recognize where money is being wasted. But in order Ior this to happen it would
take a cultural change Irom the idea oI disease care to preventive care. Obese people spend about
1500 dollars more per year on health care than a person that is not obese (Reinberg, S. 2011). II
people could see that better health can save them money it would in turn lead to a higher
percentage oI healthy people. Smaller investments like buying healthier Ioods and exercising can
go a long way in saving money on healthcare costs in the Iuture.
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ith automobile insurance these days, the longer you go with a good record and no
accidents your coverage price goes down. There should be more oI a rewards-system in health
insurance. More incentive Ior people to take better care oI themselves to prevent Irom getting
preventable disease should take precedence. Maybe the insurance companies should cover the
cost oI gym memberships and other programs such and quit smoking programs. OI course this
would result in the insurance companies to lose money but they too would save money in the
long run. The insurance companies wouldn`t payout as much in claims Ior sick people because
there would be Iewer cases. To implement real change to the problem oI disease care there will
need to be change in the healthcare laws in the United States. More programs and more
incentives must be in place in order to get people moving in the right direction. More awareness
about how living healthier can save people money and in turn saving the nation billions iI not
trillions oI dollars on healthcare. Physician and hospital visits are the top two areas where the
most money is spent as Iar as healthcare costs go. ith a healthier nation there would
dramatically less visits to both hospitals and physicians. This alone would save the nation
billions oI dollars.
For this to happen though other aspects oI healthcare must change also. 'Insurance
Industry Isn't on Patients' Side say Iormer ChieI oI StaII to the House Aging Committee /
Iormer hite House Drug Policy spokesman Bob einer and Analyst Jordan Osserman in a
column in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Lobbyists Ior the insurance industry are one oI the
biggest reasons why healthcare legislation is hard to change. For the insurance industry to
continue to make the proIits they have seen over the past decades they need the continuation oI
disease care. The idea that companies are making huge proIits oII oI citizens oI the United States
being sick is would be unthinkable in the past. The Iact that pharmaceutical, medical equipment,
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hospitals, and all the other companies that make up the medical industry need more and more
people to be sick to make or keep proIits up Ior the shareholders. So intern these companies`
higher doctors to Iind new diseases and new ways to treat those diseases. For example gastric
bypast surgery is a surgical technique to eIIectively make the stomach smaller. No long it seems
that exercise or changes in diet are good enough. Motivation to change eating habits or try any
kind oI alternative or non-medical treatments such as therapy seem to not be viable ways oI
treating the true origins oI obesity.
Other Iactors such as the emergence oI Iast Iood have also contributed to the poor health
in Americans. Basic nutrition is not a very big part oI most Americans daily lives. An article
posted by My Health News Daily shows that Americans eating habits are getting worse. They
wrote, The poll also Iound that the percentage oI people who said they ate healthy all day
yesterday Iell Irom 68.2 percent to 66.2 percent a drop that translates to 4.5 million Iewer
American adults eating healthy this May than last May (My Healthy News Daily, 2011). They
also point out the percentage who said they exercised Ior at least 30 minutes three times in the
last week Iell Irom 53.6 percent to 52.9 percent (My Healthy News Daily, 2011). This number
continues to decrease and the number oI people that do not eat healthy increases we will
continues down the path oI a nation oI sick people. These in turn creating more demand Ior the
medical industry, more and more nurses are needed to take care oI the large numbers oI sick
people in the United States. Dianne R. Hales and Lara Lauzon wrote.
ellness can be deIined as purposeIul, enjoyable living or, more speciIically, a deliberate
liIestyle choice characterized by personal responsibility and optimal enhancement oI
physical, mental, and spiritual health (2011).
A wellness movement is needed to change the outlook oI our nation`s healthcare problems.
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ellness movements have sprung up in the United States over the history oI the nation. In the
late 1800`s there was a wellness movement when the work Iorce oI the nation shiIted Irom the
Iarms to the cities and industrial work. ith this came less exercise Irom working on the Iarms
and the beginning oI canned and preserved Ioods that are not as nutritious as Iresh Iarm Ioods.
People Ielt they needed to curve the eIIects oI this by going to places called sanitarium, similar to
modern day resort spas and gyms. The entire idea was to lead a healthier liIe style. One example
oI how companies pursue higher proIits over the well-being oI the people that buy their products
is cereal.
Cereal was Iirst introduced by a sanitarium owner / operator named John Harvey
Kellogg. Kellogg used his cereal as an alternative to the meat only breakIast that most Americans
were accustoming to. Post cereal actually came Irom the same place, as C.. Post was a client
oI the Kellogg sanitarium. But over time through corporate completion more and more sugar was
put into, what started out as healthy, cereals to sell more boxes oI cereal. This example shows
how corporations do not have the health oI their customers in mind, only proIits.
It seems in some ways we as a nation are in the midst oI a new wellness movement with
the introduction oI health Iood stores in the early to late 1990`s shows the demand Ior better
nutrition is a priority Ior some Americans. The boom and bust oI the gym industry in the 1990`s
also points to a wellness movement. More needs to be done. Instilling healthier habits Ior the
youths oI America should be more oI a priority Ior the nation to stop the ever increasing
percentages oI people with preventable diseases. There must be more public awareness to instill
these healthier habits.
Programs such as the National Football Associations 'Play 60 encourage kids to
play/exorcise Ior at least 60 minutes a day. The 'Let`s Move program introduced by the Iirst
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lady Michelle Obama to Iight childhood obesity are needed to change the culture oI the nation to
be more healthy and make better decisions about their health. Even the video game industry has
bought into the idea, introducing exercise video games, where the player Iollows a workout plan
Irom the video game. The video game can even keep track oI the player`s progress.
The pursuit oI wellness, however, seems to be mainly only Ior the 'well to do or more
oI a luxury Ior most people. The cost oI healthy Ioods is much higher than normal Ioods. Tara
Parker-Pope pointed out a survey in her 2007 article 'A High Price Ior Healthy Food in the
New York Times showed that energy-dense munchies cost on average $1.76 per 1,000 calories,
compared with $18.16 per 1,000 calories Ior low-energy but nutritious Ioods. Parker-Pope also
points out that the cost oI these 'munchies or less nutritious Ioods are not eIIect by inIlation as
much as the more nutritious Ioods. The cost oI the less nutritious Ioods shows that it is cheaper
Ior low income Iamilies to Ieed their Iamilies less notorious Ioods and the health oI these people
is oI no beneIit Irom the Ioods they eat. On top oI all this the cheap cost oI these Ioods make it
easier to eat more oI the less nutritious Ioods adding to the obesity problem pointed out
previously. Other cost oI wellness can add up also. The cost oI a gym membership Ior example
might be out oI the reach oI many Americans, especially in today`s economic situation.
Many predict the surge in demand Ior medical care associated with the aging population
will so strain our resources that Iuture generations will Iace permanently higher inIlation, higher
taxes or both (Gigante 2010). ith the baby boomers getting older the number oI sick elderly
people will add to the high cost oI healthcare. This is another Iactor contributing to the high cost
oI healthcare in America. Just as the baby boomers have had a booming eIIect on every other
statistic. It is an opportunity though to show that preventative measures can still save money. II
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there are more screenings Ior disease and healthy liIe style choices are made a smaller number oI
baby boomers will need extensive medical care. The problem however can be 4verdiagnosing.
Over diagnosing does happen, according to Dr. H. Gilbert elch, Dr. Lisa M. Schwartz,
and Dr. Steven oloshin.
The introduction oI prostate cancer screening resulted in over a million additional
American men being told they have prostate cancer, and while studies disagree on the
question oI whether a Iew have been helped-there's no disagreement that most have been
treated Ior a disease that was never going to bother them (2011).
They argue that with new medical technology we, as a society, are making more patients. This
seems to only indicate that with more screening we are adding to the 'disease care problem and
money is being spent on healthcare Ior no reason.
Clearly the cost oI healthcare is a popular topic in today`s society. ith the introduction
oI President Obama`s healthcare reIorm in 2008 a new debate about healthcare has started. The
costs oI healthcare are outrageous, allowing only a small percentage oI Americans with quality
healthcare. There is no doubt though that individual citizens have the power themselves to lead
healthier liIe styles and preventing diseases like obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. The costs
however oI eating healthier Ioods and having time or space Ior exercise works against most
Americans. A wellness movement or cultural change is needed to take America oII the path oI
disease care. More screening or testing Ior early diagnostics and treatment will go a long way in
helping the problem oI disease care also.



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ReIerences
elch, H., Schwartz, L. & oloshin, S (2011). Overdiagnosed: Making People Sick in the
Pursuit oI Health. Retrieved Irom http://www.beacon.org/productdetails.cIm?PC2174
Smith, B (2008). Knock out the top 5 preventable diseases Retrieved Irom
http://www.vandenberg.aI.mil/news/story.asp?id123103015
U.S. Health Care Costs (2011). Retrieved Irom http://www.kaiseredu.org/Issue-Modules/US-
Health-Care-Costs/Background-
BrieI.aspx#hat20is20driving20health20care20costs?
Reinberg, S (2011). Almost 10 Percent oI U.S. Medical Costs Tied to Obesity. Retrieved Irom
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthday/story?id8184975&page1#.Tswb1IKwXvg
National Diabetes Fact Sheet (2011). Retrieved Irom http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-
basics/diabetes-statistics/
Statement From the American Heart Association (2011). Retrieved Irom
http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/early/2011/01/24/CIR.0b013e31820a55I5.abstract
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Gigante, S (2010). How Boomers ill Impact the Health Care Industry. Retrieved Irom
http://www.cnbc.com/id/35524106/HowBoomersillImpacttheHealthCareIndus
try
Parker-Pope, T (2007, Dec. 5). A High Price Ior Healthy Food. The New York Times.Retrieved
Irom http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/a-high-price-Ior-healthy-Iood/