Healthcare Costs are Soaring and Our Health is Worse

Healthcare costs are expected to soar to $4.3 trillion by 2017 which is estimated to be nearly 20% of the gross domestic product. The increasing demand for health services will continue to drive the costs of care. Read the full story at Healthcare cost.

The increase in cost is driven in part by increasing demand for complex technology, demand for new pharameuticals, increasing number of uninsured, shortage of healthcare professionals, lack of a national health insurance, malpractice claims, restictive practice acts, inconsistent quality of care, medical errors, and aging of the baby boomer who are now seeking more healthcare services.

Unhealthy lifestyles that have contributed to what some see as an epidemic of obesity that can result health problems such as diabetes, heart diseases, and cancer. Most when asked seem aware of the need to have a health lifestyle that includes proper diets, exercise, and management of stress. However, for what ever reasons particularly in the USA achieving these goals for many has been unreachable. For example, the adverse health problems related to smoking are common knowledge. For a number of years the Surgeon General has required that warnings are placed on all tobacco products. Yet in Kentucky 28.5% of the population smokes while Utah has the lowest rate at 9.8%. To see how your state ranks national on smoking as well as on other health issues take a look at the Kaiser State Health Facts. Statehealthfacts.

Clearly the cause of increasing healthcare costs is caused by multiple factors. The United States is the only industrial nation in the world without national health insurance. Over 44 million citizens do not have insurance. Most of these individuals are women and children. In some parts of the country such as along the US Mexico border over 40% are without insurance. Some areas the percentage is nearly 60%. Without health insurance people simple put off obtaining care when the problem is just emerging. Then when the problem becomes acute they are forced to seek expensive emergency room care. The system as depicted extremely well in Michael Moore's the movie Sicko broken and without a political commitment to change the existing piece meal system of insurance and public policies that tend to favor the status quo countless American will die and/or suffer from unnecessary health challenges.