New York City street vendors sell unbrellas for twice the price when it rains. A heart surgeon makes 10 times more money than a school nurse teaching children about a good diet.
We pay way more when our back is against the wall. Unfortunately for us, our healthcare system is designed around this principle. For every dollar invested on prevention, there is $100 spent on disease.
Our hospitals, our big pharma, even our doctors are incented to see an increasing amount of sick people. The more heart surgery I perform, the more dollars I make. The more people are fat and sick, the more drugs we sell. Sort of like paying firemen based on the number of fires they put out. How much fire prevention work would they continue to do?
Maybe this broken system explains why the U.S. has the highest per capita cost for health care in the world (16% of GDP or $2 trillon! – a huge drag on the economy – see Time Magazine.) You would think that for this high cost, you get some serious performance. NO. You get the worst performance: the lowest life expectancy amongst all developed nations.
High cost, low return. Sort of like the financial markets these days. There is much work on your plate Mr. Obama.
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