Two word: Medical Bills.
There's nothing like coming home from the hospital and finding a fistful of medical bills waiting for you. From the doctors, the hospital, the health insurance companies, and all kinds of people and places you don't even recognize. There's nothing like the sight of those anxiety provoking medical bills to trigger your adrenal glands to shoot out cortisol, for your palms to get sweaty, for your heart rate and blood pressure to skyrocket, for your struggling immune system to plunge, and for your recovery to come to a screeching halt. Just in case you weren't really sick when you went into the hospital, you can be sure that you're really sick now, confused by the cold, callous bills that keep appearing in the mailbox that require intense concentration to make any sense, if that's even possible, and imply that you're going to have to take a third mortgage on your home to pay for. The experience is so overwhelming that by the time you see your doctor for a follow-up visit, she wants to prescribe Zoloft for depression to help you cope with the punishing experience of recovering, not from your illness, but from wading through the incessant stream of paperwork that requires so much of your time and energy when you should be resting and regaining your health. If there's one positive thing to say about Kaiser Permanente, they don't put their patients through this torture.
Remember Michael Moore's movie, SICKO? Whether or not you believe the health care systems in England and France are inferior or superior to ours, or that Michael Moore is a jerk, let's be honest. There he is in an English hospital at the cashier window and he's told the only financial concerns discharged patients have when they leave the hospital is to make sure they stop by and receive their parking money. No bills then and no bills when they get home. Huh? But the scene that REALLY gets my attention is the young man in France who has been discharged from the hospital with doctor's orders to take 6 weeks and rest to fully recover (on the beach, no less) before returning to work. (Is this for real?!) None of this American stupidity of returning to work while you're still recovering for fear of losing your health insurance! That is really sicko. Just last week, we saw a nurse practitioner in our office for free because she had been laid off when a hospital closed and couldn't afford the COBRA. She fell in her backyard, broke her arm and needed a letter that she was fit to return to work. She wasn't. The fracture was still fresh and not healing optimally. She should have had surgery. The woman couldn't pay her rent. We wrote the letter anyway.
There are a myriad of reasons why our health care costs are so high. But in an insidious, twisted way, one reason is because our own health care system fosters not health, but illness. Stress isn't just a state of mind. It effects the entire body, particularly our digestive and immune systems, cardiac function, brain chemistry, and hormone balance. Everything goes haywire when we're stressed. With rising gas prices and worries about global warming and national security, can't we just have some peace of mind when it comes to health care? Is it so much to ask for a system that we can count on when we're ill and need to be cared for? A system we can trust in and be proud of? A system that doesn't constantly threaten us with personal bankruptcy?
We spend billions of dollars on expensive drugs, invasive surgeries and hospital stays, but we fool ourselves into believing that many are anything more than temporary panaceas to treat physical illnesses brought on by chronic emotional stress. Imagine a health care system structured to minimize stress, anxiety, and promote mental health.
Health insurance providers need to focus their efforts on absolutely minimizing the crushing stress they create for the average consumer. This shift would go a long way in minimizing illness and improving the overall health of our citizens. The positive impact this could have on the well-being of our nation would be incredible.
No doubt about it.
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