Tackling Healthcare Costs in America
Health care costs in America are spiraling out of control.
As a country, we spend enormous amounts of money on medical care each year.
In fact, the numbers are staggering!In 2007 we spent about $2.
2 trillion on care.
That translates to about $7400 per person per year-nearly twice the average of other developed nations.
Simply said, Americans spend more on health care than housing and food combined.
Now, in the midst of an economic crisis, those numbers threaten only to go up.
Unless we find a way to contain the rising costs of health care, we may soon find it out of reach for many Americans.
Fortunately, President Obama is attemptingmajorreform to the health care delivery system we have.
He has already signed into law several key bills designed to shore up our fragile system.
They include the Children's Health Insurance Reorganization Act, which provides quality healthcare to 11 million children, 4 million of which were previously uninsured, as well as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which will protect health care coverage for more than 7 million Americans who've lost their jobs through no fault of their own.
These people get a 65 percent Cobra subsidy for healthcare.
A third recovery act provides money for prevention and wellness programs.
This act aims to help citizens stay healthy so they won't incur medical costs-a departure from most legislation, which provides money only for people once they get sick.
This act also gives doctors more medical tools so that they can make better decisions for their patients.
The act is significant because it recognizes a fact critical to solving theproblem: prevention contains costs.
On The Right Track As for health care reform itself, Congress hasn't finalized a reform bill yet.
But they're on the right track.
It looks like the final bill will give us what we want.
What do we want? We want affordable, comprehensive care.
We also want a guarantee that each of us-rich and poor alike-has a choice of plans.
And we want basic medical insurance without a lot of strings attached to it and with a wide choice of doctors and providers, including the ability to use holistic practitioners working on disease prevention.
These are noteworthy goals.
But achieving them through legislation that will pass muster with both the Democrats and the Republicans won't be easy.
Already lawmakers in Congress have stalled the latest version of the reform bill until after Congress reconvenes in September.
Eventually, we will get some sort of bill passed.
Will it include all the things mentioned above and still be cost-effective? Or, will it be a watered-down version of a reform bill that does little to containcosts? Only time will tell.
Taking Charge Of Our Health But given the circumstances, we can't wait for health care reform to happen.
Nor do we have to.
We can cut the costs of health care ourselves, if we take charge of our own wellness.
First, we must start thinking differently when it comes to health care.
Among other things, we must integrate the Eastern philosophy of healing with the Western approach to medicine.
Integration is critical to containing costs.
Second, we must also switch to a plant-based diet.
It's a cost-effective way of improving health and slashing costs-all while putting money in our pockets.
Eliminating meat from our diets-including chicken, turkey, and pork-drives down our food bills and curbs disease.
Of course, buying organic fruits and vegetables costs slightly more than we now pay, but not enough to offset the savings we earn from eliminating meat from our diets.
Also, plenty of grains are inexpensive, like brown rice and buckwheat.
What's more, most supermarkets cater to people who want to switch to a plant-based diet.
Many of the items in such a diet are found in the markets' International aisles.
So following the diet these days is easier than ever.
It's a far cry from 20 years ago when you had to travel long distances to buy the foods needed to adhere to a plant-based diet.
If switching to a plant-based diet is not your thing, just incorporate more fresh fruit and vegetables in your diet.
We can't wait for Congress to reform health care .
We need to act and we need to act now.
If we want to cut health care costs, we must take action ourselves.
Integrating Eastern philosophy and Western medicine is something we can do now.
Another is changing to a plant-base diet.
Both things will improve health, prevent disease, and cut costs.
If we want a healthier, happier life starting now, we must take charge of own wellness.
This goal is certainly within reach.
As a country, we spend enormous amounts of money on medical care each year.
In fact, the numbers are staggering!In 2007 we spent about $2.
2 trillion on care.
That translates to about $7400 per person per year-nearly twice the average of other developed nations.
Simply said, Americans spend more on health care than housing and food combined.
Now, in the midst of an economic crisis, those numbers threaten only to go up.
Unless we find a way to contain the rising costs of health care, we may soon find it out of reach for many Americans.
Fortunately, President Obama is attemptingmajorreform to the health care delivery system we have.
He has already signed into law several key bills designed to shore up our fragile system.
They include the Children's Health Insurance Reorganization Act, which provides quality healthcare to 11 million children, 4 million of which were previously uninsured, as well as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which will protect health care coverage for more than 7 million Americans who've lost their jobs through no fault of their own.
These people get a 65 percent Cobra subsidy for healthcare.
A third recovery act provides money for prevention and wellness programs.
This act aims to help citizens stay healthy so they won't incur medical costs-a departure from most legislation, which provides money only for people once they get sick.
This act also gives doctors more medical tools so that they can make better decisions for their patients.
The act is significant because it recognizes a fact critical to solving theproblem: prevention contains costs.
On The Right Track As for health care reform itself, Congress hasn't finalized a reform bill yet.
But they're on the right track.
It looks like the final bill will give us what we want.
What do we want? We want affordable, comprehensive care.
We also want a guarantee that each of us-rich and poor alike-has a choice of plans.
And we want basic medical insurance without a lot of strings attached to it and with a wide choice of doctors and providers, including the ability to use holistic practitioners working on disease prevention.
These are noteworthy goals.
But achieving them through legislation that will pass muster with both the Democrats and the Republicans won't be easy.
Already lawmakers in Congress have stalled the latest version of the reform bill until after Congress reconvenes in September.
Eventually, we will get some sort of bill passed.
Will it include all the things mentioned above and still be cost-effective? Or, will it be a watered-down version of a reform bill that does little to containcosts? Only time will tell.
Taking Charge Of Our Health But given the circumstances, we can't wait for health care reform to happen.
Nor do we have to.
We can cut the costs of health care ourselves, if we take charge of our own wellness.
First, we must start thinking differently when it comes to health care.
Among other things, we must integrate the Eastern philosophy of healing with the Western approach to medicine.
Integration is critical to containing costs.
Second, we must also switch to a plant-based diet.
It's a cost-effective way of improving health and slashing costs-all while putting money in our pockets.
Eliminating meat from our diets-including chicken, turkey, and pork-drives down our food bills and curbs disease.
Of course, buying organic fruits and vegetables costs slightly more than we now pay, but not enough to offset the savings we earn from eliminating meat from our diets.
Also, plenty of grains are inexpensive, like brown rice and buckwheat.
What's more, most supermarkets cater to people who want to switch to a plant-based diet.
Many of the items in such a diet are found in the markets' International aisles.
So following the diet these days is easier than ever.
It's a far cry from 20 years ago when you had to travel long distances to buy the foods needed to adhere to a plant-based diet.
If switching to a plant-based diet is not your thing, just incorporate more fresh fruit and vegetables in your diet.
We can't wait for Congress to reform health care .
We need to act and we need to act now.
If we want to cut health care costs, we must take action ourselves.
Integrating Eastern philosophy and Western medicine is something we can do now.
Another is changing to a plant-base diet.
Both things will improve health, prevent disease, and cut costs.
If we want a healthier, happier life starting now, we must take charge of own wellness.
This goal is certainly within reach.