Some of you may find this a little "out there". You may find my ideas to be crazy conspiracy theories, but I hope that you can keep an open mind long enough to hear me out. There is indeed a major crisis in healthcare as we know it today. It's not that many people cannot afford health care (which is a totally different discussion all together). The problem with our health care system is that it's not health care at all. This may seem crazy to you...but what we have in this country is sick care. We have a nation controlled by drug companies that want to keep you sick.
Before you go closing the page...hear me out. If after reading it you still think I am crazy, then you have merely wasted a few minutes of your time. But my hope is that it will light a spark in you to be curious, and start asking questions
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. Consider this as an example....chemotherapy costs tens of thousands of dollars per patient to "TREAT" cancer (not cure!) and most of the time at some point or another, the cancer comes back. The companies who produce this medication, make a boatload every time it is used. These drugs have patents, and only certain companies can manufacture them...for a profit. Now, imagine if someone cured cancer. Let's say they sold their drug at a very high price. Eventually you will be cured and no longer require the drug. In fact maybe the disease becomes eradicated like smallpox or polio. Then what? There's no more money to be made. That's not what the drug companies want!
While recently perusing my health insurance benefits, I noticed that it offered a minute discount on things such as weight loss programs and smoking cessation programs. These discounts were pitiful at best, and still kept these programs well out of my price range. This got me thinking...why wouldn't something like this be covered FULLY by my insurance (which is a relatively good plan by a national company)? Surely there would be money saved by them by providing this service in the long term, because smoking and obesity are the two biggest killers in the US today. So by offering to pay for these services, I could quit smoking, lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle and therefore be less of a risk, and less of a cost for coverage, right?
Not so fast. If I DON'T lose weight, and I keep smoking, my risk of chronic (read: long term) illnesses increases dramatically. I am at a greater risk for diseases that require lots of pharmaceutical drugs to treat, such as cancers, heart disease, diabetes, etc. This means more drugs are purchased, and therefore more money is made. Seems that the health industry is not in the "business" of preventing illness...It's just not profitable.
Not so crazy now is it? It's important we all start to realize what is really going on here, and how even though your doctor is not necessarily "out to get you"....someone IS out to make a profit on you. And they don't really care if you're alive to realize it or not.
Please don't think I am just some crazy doomsday theorist or whacko with a "THE END IS NEAR" sign. I really am a rather level-headed person who has been noticing some disturbing things when it comes to the "health" industry. Please do not just take my word for it...I have no qualifications to make statements such as this beyond my own personal observations and experiences. But, let it turn on a light for you, and inspire you to do a bit of research....look beyond the surface. You might be surprised at what you find.
I agree with you completely. My husband is a pediatrician and he often talks about his wish that the healthcare industry would be more focused on prevention. He hates that people don't get the care they need until something big and bad happens, and then it's a huge deal to treat. Another pet peeve of his is that people don't have a "health care home". Many people (especially the poor) don't have a regular doc they see for routine care. Then, they end up at urgent care or the ER for things unnecessarily, which costs more money. Since many low-income people can't afford regular doctor visits, they go to the hospital, and that higher cost is essentially charged to the tax payers. We need a system that promotes preventive care for EVERYONE, included those living in poverty. BTW, I like your blog. I found you through WW4F. :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Christi!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by!
I am glad to hear that your husband feels the same way. I was originally starting to wonder if doctors felt the same. I don't know how it is everywhere else, but in the ER here, they cannot turn you away if you don't have insurance, so many poor and homeless people go there either for just a sniffle, or even for a warm place to hang out for a while.
Anyway enough of my rant :)Thanks again for reading!