The United States spent $3.4 Trillion dollars on Health Care in 2016

Health care cost continues to outpace inflation and is expected to reach 4 trillion dollars by 2018.

$10,016 is spent per person on health care in 2016

Which is double the average amount spent per person in the other developed countries.

$16,351 Average cost of Health Insurance for a family of 4 with a $3,000 deductible

MNSure health insurance premiums are expected to raise 50%-100% in 2017.

The United Stated consumes 56% of all prescription drugs in the world…But we are only 5% of the world’s population.

Prescription Cost Totals over $400 billion per year and the prices rose 10% last year.

Over 4 billion prescriptions are filled in the United States.

Chronic Health Conditions accounts of 75% of Total Health Care Cost and 90% of All Prescriptions Filled.

#1 cause of bankruptcy in the United States is due to medical debt.

Over 400,000 people file medical bankruptcy annually.

17.5% of every dollar spent in the United States is spent on Health Care.
Economist agree, no country can sustain such a high percentage spent on health care. Health Care Costs threatens the future and financial security of the United States.

The Health Care Crisis… Part 2
In Part 1 of the article on the Health Care Crisis in the United States we looked at:

The Health Care Cost Crisis

That the United States is headed for another financial crisis if the cost of health care keeps rising.

The Health Care Crisis

That every year adults and children in the United States are getting sicker with nearly 50% of people now having at least one Chronic Health Condition and Diabetes is becoming an epidemic.

In Part 2 of the article, we will look at:

The Health Care Crisis…. Who is to Blame

The Health Care Crisis… The Solution

How Did We Get into the Health Care Crisis?
… Who is to Blame
#1 The Drug Companies…… Some good, a lot of lies, expensivebrain washing and massive amounts of greed.
Some Good

- Millions of lives have been saved by antibiotics, blood pressure medication, insulin and other medications.

-Most all of us have used medications to find relief from an acute or chronic condition at some point in our lives.

-Many people with chronic health conditions are dependent on their daily medications.

A lot of Lies

There has never been an industry that has settled as many claims with the Federal Government for fraud, false advertising and criminal activities.

Drug companies have paid over $20 billion dollars in settlements since 2001 for the 20 largest claims including:

Falsifying research about the effectiveness of the mumps vaccine (search term -Merk mumps vaccine fraud)
Covering up the known deadly dangers of a drug… 38,000 people dead from Vioxx, (search term- vioxx cover up)
Covering up research about a drug known to cause cancer (search term-Pizer HRT cancer cover up)
The other leading industries for claim settlements are the Tobacco, Banking and Oil industries.

…need we say more!

Expensive Brain Washing and False Representations

The Drug companies spent $25 billion on advertising in 2016

-5.2 billion directly to you, the public.

The United States and New Zealand are the only countries in the world that allow the drug companies to advertise directly to the public.

Drug companies have increased TV advertising by 60% in recent years.

-20 billion on marketing to Medical Doctors.

Free seminars, Lunches, Dinners and Travel.

Paying incentives for prescribing medication.

Major source of funding for nationally recognized non-profit advocacy groups in order to promote their drugs

C.H.A.D.D Children and Adults with Attention Deficit receives a significant portion of its funding from the makers of the most commonly prescribed ADHD medication

Marketing of a Health Condition- directly to the public without letting the public know that the ads are actually being paid for by the drug company

I.e. Pancreatic Enzyme Insufficiency- “ask your doctor about P.E.I” (as heard on the radio just this week)

Greed

The top 10 Drug companies in the Fortune 500, have a combined profit that is greater than the combined total profit of the remaining 490 Fortune 500 companies.

-Raising the price of life saving drugs 100% to over 5000% in a just one year.

EpiPen two pack $700.
5,000% increase by Turing Pharmaceuticals for anti-malaria drug Daraprim, charging $750 per pill for a drug that used to cost $13.50 per pill.
$84,000 for a 12 week Hepitis-C treatment at $1000 per pill
$100,000 per year Cancer Treatments, an increase of four-fold over the past couple years.
The Drug companies know that people will pay whatever it cost to save their lives and get out of pain….Just like a drug dealer on the street selling drugs to an addict.
#2 Guilty Party, You, Me….All of US
For Forgetting Common Sense and a Balanced Approach to Health Care Two Facts we need to keep in mind to maintain a balanced approach

Antibiotics, Insulin and other medications have saved countless lives, brought relief and improved quality of life for millions… medications, when used wisely and sparingly are a good thing.

Mankind somehow managed to survive for thousands of years… before the modern era of prescription medication started in the 1930’s. … There are many individuals and certain cultures that rarely, if ever, take a drug in their life time…and they live longer and healthier lives than we typically do in the United States.

Where we have lost Common Sense and a Balanced Approach to Health Care

The United States takes 56% of all the drug prescriptions in the world, but we are only 5% of the world population.
At the slightest pain, sniffle, fever, symptom or emotional stress, we have been trained by the drug company's advertising to reach for a drug.............yet we tell our kids to "Just say no" to drugs.
That we have more children on prescription drugs than any other country.
Due to the over prescribing of Antibiotics, the United States has reported it's first case of infection that is completely resistant to ALL known drugs...That's a Health Care Crisis!!!
Since the FDA started approving drugs in the 1930's, the United States now has more drugs than ever, more chronically ill people than ever and is spending more money than ever... And we keep getting sicker and sicker.

The Dilemma and the Solution
The Dilemma

We need many of the drugs that the drug companies produce…therefore we need the drug companies
Just like the banking industry, who routinely commits illegal and fraudulent acts and are “to big to fail”… we need them…and they know it.
A typical Medical provider, really only has ONE tool in their tool box to address a chronic health problem…. Diagnos the problem and then write a prescription for a drug that the drug company has educated the doctor about.
This is made worse by the fact that drug companies advertise directly to the patients… So patients actually go to their doctor and demand that the doctor prescribe XYZ drug for their symptoms, even if the best solution would be a lifestyle change.
#1….There is NO MONEY in prevention. All the real money, trillions of dollars, is in early detection and treatment
Type II diabetes is 95% preventable

…with weight loss, exercise and eating right.

… But all the money is being spent on finding the next new drug to treat it. (That’s just plain crazy)

The Bottom Line… is that the Drug companies will NEVER, NEVER…. EVER really want people to get healthy or find ways to prevent disease.

The drug companies want every man, women and child to need their drugs… From birth to the grave. That is why they are focusing more than ever on getting children hooked on their drugs so they will have more life time clients.

I.e. With the significant increase in the number of children using ADHD stimulant drugs, the number of adults using ADHD medication has doubled.

The Solution……Common Sense, Balanced Approach to Health Care

The only way to find a long term, sustainable solution to the Health Care Crisis is to get back to a common sense and balanced approach to treat Chronic, Non-life threatening Health Conditions:

1st Choice being the natural approach to help the body get healthy and then most problems will improve or resolve on their own.
Life Style Change
Eating Healthy
Rest
Exercise/Stretching/Yoga
Meditation
Weight loss
Natural Interventions
Chiropractic
Massage
Supplements
Acupuncture
Therapy/Counseling
2nd Choice being the use of drugs and surgery approach
Temporary relief
Assist the body when it can no longer function normally
Repair or Replace damaged or worn out parts
Chronic Health Conditions- 90% of All Health Care Problems
Acute Crisis Health Conditions-10% of All Health Care Problems

Parting Thoughts

The current health care model we are using in the United States is not working and is leading the United States into a Health Care Crisis both financially and health-wise.

While the United States has the best Emergency care and most advanced medical technologically in the world, we rank lowest of the 11th wealthiest countries for the health of our population.

While there many reasons for our current Health Care Crisis, I believe that the are 2 two reasons: 1) Our lack of personal responsibility for our own health 2) Our over dependence on drugs and the drug companies.

By getting back to a Common Sense and Balanced approach of a Healthy Life Style and a Natural approach to Health Care as the 1st choice… I firmly believe that as individuals, we can achieve the level of health that we are supposed to have and avoid our own personal Health Care Crisis.

And, if enough individuals get back to a Common Sense and Balanced approach to health… the United States as a country can avoid the Health Care Crisis altogether.