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Why Are Health Care Costs So High?

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November 02 2006 | 5,676 views

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More and more Americans are becoming concerned with the rising costs of the U.S. health care system. While it is touted as providing the best medical care in the world, people are increasingly unable to afford it.

Eighty percent of respondents to a recent poll said they were unhappy with the $2.2 trillion, or $7,129 a person, being spent on health care this year in the United States. Most who responded thought medical company profits or malpractice lawsuits were the biggest drivers of spending.

In actuality, medical inflation is driven in large part by the popularity of new drugs and technology, which are frequently much more expensive than older treatments. Other key factors include the rising costs of medical services, waste and inefficiency, and the growing number of chronic diseases caused by the American epidemic of obesity.

A majority of poll respondents favored switching to a universal health care system, as long as doing so did not restrict doctor or treatment choice, or prove more expensive. In addition:

79 percent supported requiring businesses to offer health insurance to full-time employees, and 64 percent said employers should also be required to cover part-time employees.
65 percent supported requiring all Americans to have health insurance, with tax credits to help low-income people pay for it.

82 percent supported expanding government health programs such as Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

If you were to believe the propaganda, the United States has the best "health" care system in the world, but this is a pack of deceptive lies. The real truth is that we have the best disease-care system in the world designed to extract the maximum amount from consumers and taxpayers with the illusion of getting "miracle" quick and easy pill solutions for our illnesses.

In another of an interesting series of articles from USA Today on the sick state of America's hobbled health care system, a new poll has identified growing concerns about the soaring costs of medicine and how it happened, as well as the quality of care across the nation. And, no surprise, even though Americans want major health care reform, they won't give anything up to achieve it.

According to one expert, health care costs won't slow down without consumers making "trade-offs," a big problem considering few patients feel they are responsible for this dramatic lift.

The first and most important way to come to grips with this crisis that has emptied bank accounts and done nothing to protect and improve the overall health of Americans:

Taking responsibility for your own health through simpler, gentler, but no less effective, solutions.

The real way to drop medical costs is to look at pragmatic steps emphasizing care, not treatment, and personal responsibility. Drugs, surgery and hospitals rarely solve chronic health problems. However, taking control of your own personal health -- by eating healthier and incorporating exercise into your daily routine for starters -- will go a long way toward solving them.

You can also keep posted to the newsletter, as I do my best to review over 10,000 health stories EVERY month to provide you with the best and newest ways that you can use natural medical principles to keep you healthy.

Sources:

USA Today October 16, 2006

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