Health Insurance – Preventive vs Reactive Care

Although insurers get a lot of attention whenNumerous programs have shown that spending
problems with the current health care system arejust an hour on preventive care with patients
discussed, such discussions are often a case ofwould save tens of billions of dollars a year in
missing the forest for the trees. This is becausemedical cost.
the issue of preventive versus reactive care isSo, why don’t we see more preventive
much bigger and a much bigger impact on costs.care? The answer is somewhat morbid. It simply
The current effort to reform health care indoesn’t pay as well as reactive care. If I see
Washington is a much needed thing although thea patient four times a year and put them on a
merits of the current effort are certainlystrict nutrition and exercise plan, I might make
generating a lot of heated debate. Despite the$400 or so for the visits. If I see a patient only
positives and negatives of the bill, what is clear iswhen they come in with a complaint, I will make
we need to do something because the cost offar more than that in a single visit after I conduct
health care in the richest country in the world isan exam, order a bevy of tests and so on.
simply out of control.The vast majority of doctors do not think of the
One of the biggest problems with health care isprocess in this way. They don’t have to. It is
the approach we take. We focus almost entirelythe accepted approach to medical treatment in
on treating diseases and health problems. Almostthis country and a major reason why costs are
no effort is given to preventing them. This is aso high compared to practically any other nation.
huge mistake because the cost of treatment isUntil we develop a different approach, that simply
massively larger than the cost of prevention.isn’t going to change.