Low-Cost Fixes for Our Health-Care System

There is no doubt that we need to do something about health-care costs. After all, spending on health care in the U.S. over the last three decades has risen almost three times faster than all other consumer spending -- increasing from 9% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in 1980 to 18% of GDP in 2009. This means more and more of the average American family's budget is being gobbled up by health-care expenses.

In recent days, our politicians in Washington have come up with two plans to fix this problem.  According to the independent Congressional Budget Office estimates, the pricetag for one of the solutions was estimated to be $1.6 Trillion over the next 10 years and for the other, a trim $1.0 Trillion. And the Trillion-dollar package was projected to make health-care insurance accessible to just 16 million or about a third of the estimated 46 million Americans currently without coverage. Obviously, not much bang for our buck there. Since these same politicians, according to some experts, have managed in just a few short months to put us at risk for a national debt of $10 Trillion with their TARPs, bailouts, stimulus packages and pork-barrel-laden budget spending, maybe we should be looking for less expensive solutions. Here, then, without further ado, are my two-cents'- worth of suggestions to deal inexpensively with the cost of health care

1. Have insurance companies and businesses all across America implement a version of the Safeway corporation's health-care plan, which is to have the health-care insurance follow the automobile insurance industry's model of rewarding drivers who have good driving records with lower premiums. Since 70% of all health-care costs are the result of lifestyle choices, in the health-care industry this would mean cutting insurance costs for individuals who choose behaviors that decrease the risk of getting sick or injured. By adopting this approach, Safeway has kept health-care costs constant for the last four years while most companies have seen health-care expenses rise by 38%. This has resulted in an extra $1500 in the pockets of some Safeway employees -- a strong incentive to take better care of one's self and family. Safeway's CEO, Steven Burd, estimates that implementing such a plan nationwide would reduce our national health-care bill by 40%. The price tag to implement this: A whole lot less than a Trillion dollars!
2. Put a cap on medical malpractice rewards and deflate the incentive to sue doctors and hospitals. Right now physicians and medical facilities are paying exorbitant amounts for malpractice insurance and passing the costs on to you and me -- their patients. This is reflected in the cost of health-care insurance. The constant threat of being sued also causes doctors and hospitals to perform unnecessary tests and imagings in order to cover their backsides, which drives up the cost of medical care. On top of this, this subliminal stress probably causes them to make more mistakes, not fewer, as trial lawyers would have us believe. Cost to implement: A lost less than a Trillion dollars!
3. Have literature that doctors, medical centers, emergency rooms and urgent-care centers would give out at each patient's visit to encourage and remind her/him of what s/he can do to stay well and not to come in every time s/he has the sniffles. Also, have incentives for doctors to spend more time counseling on good health practices and less time on dispensing medicines. A recent report found that in central Texas, in the last six years, nine individuals alone had accounted for 2,678 visits to the emergency room. Cost of literature and doctor's/nurse's advice: A whole lot less than a Trillion dollars.
4. Start a Get Fit & Healthy America initiative. Line up famous athletes, movie stars and other celebrities and have them lead workouts in stadiums and on racetracks across the nation. Don't you think people would come out of the woodwork to exercise with Oprah, Kyle Petty, Jennifer and Angelina and even the Pittster himself? The stars would give their time/help free of charge to help our nation, as would the owners of the facilities. At these events folks could be educated in how to stay fit, lose weight and stay healthy. Those who made the greatest improvement in their well-being could be rewarded with a 1-on-1 lunch/visit with their favorite celebrity. You don't think this incentive would get millions of folks losing weight, getting in the best shape of their life? Cost: A lot less than a Trillion dollars!

We may not be able to afford to give the-soon-to-be 50-million-without-health-insurance free health insurance coverage. Do the math. Fifty million times a trimmed-to-the-bone $3,000 each comes to a bankrupting $150 Billion per year on top of all the other money this country has already spent, and is about to spend that it doesn't have...well, we have a problem.

The only solution that makes any sense is to spend a lot less on health care; and the only sane way to do that is to help folks stay well and need fewer medicines and less medical attention. You have just read four cost-effective ways to do this. They are, however, just a launching pad for ideas on how to deal with this issue. What solutions can you come up with? Anything you come up with has to be better than just throwing money (our money AND money we don't have) at the problem, as the politicians in Washington are wont to do. I'm all ears!

Ed Mayhew is a speaker (Need one? A good one?) and the author of the books: Fitter After 50, Fitter for Life and AGE BLASTERS: 3 Steps to a Younger You You can visit Ed at: www.YouCanGrowYounger.com   www.FitterForLife.com  Ask for your F*R*E*E Fitter After 50/Fitter For Life e-newsletter