Care or Health Careless?

Growing up, I didn't see my dad since he spent his time drafting Medicare. Now I'm in my second year.

Back in the 1980s, the Washington Post referred to my dad as “the unobtrusive shaper of law.” For nearly 40 years, he wrote major healthcare legislation for the Congressional Research Service.

America spends twice what other rich countries do with less benefits - $4.5 trillion in the U.S. In 2020, the United States spent about $3.8 trillion on health expenditures. Unfortunately, we have the worst system of outcome of any industrial country and the shortest lifespan.

Ninety percent of these expenditures are for people with chronic and mental health conditions.(https://www.cdc.gov/chronic-disease/data-research/facts-stats/index.html)

Ways to better prevent managing and preventing these diseases have significant socio-economic benefits.

Presently, our health careless system wastes over a third to one-half of its expenditures.

Instead of keeping patients well, the American healthcare industry greatly profits most when we are sick. Our hospital systems are bankrupting the U.S. healthcare through its planned obsolescence.

Emerging now are new primary care-led systems of care, benefiting patients, payers, and society. These are reforming our healthcare system. Simply concentrating on wellness will foster a more affordable system.

Heath carelessness often generated huge profits for a select few paid by the injured many. Refining primary care would improve America's healthcare future

Multiple chronic illness cases that are just one percent of healthcare expenditure consume 21 percent of this total amount. The last tier of 50 percent of patients accounted for 2.8 percent of spending.  

The largest area of waste is ‘defensive medicine’ including redundant, inappropriate, or unnecessary tests and procedures. Other areas of excessive spending include non-adherence to medical advice and prescriptions ( i.e.opiates, etc.).

The cost of mental illness in the United States is a staggering $282 billion annually — 30 percent higher than that found in previous research.(https://leading.business.columbia.edu › …) Health workers are facing a mental health crisis. Over twice, the number of health workers reported harassment at work in 2022 than in 2018. Nearly half of health workers (46%) reported often feeling burned out in 2022, up from 32% in 2018. (https://www.cdc.gov › niosh)

Other challenges include poor accessibility coupled with reluctant insurance coverage, making it tough to get care, including access. Also, long waiting periods, limited mental health staff provide, and expensive services.

Not addressing our mental healthcare system is a major source of the problem. Such behavioral factors impact diabetes, obesity and other diseases. Loss of worker productivity and other indirect costs for mental treatment, therapy, and other associated facets of mental illness are difficult to measure fully.

Investing in more effective health care would lessen our debt with both preventative and proactive measures. 

Our future is at a crossroads whether we reform healthcare. Healthcare costs could eventually account for all of the country’s economic output. If we do not demand more efficient care, rampant health carelessness will continue.