Health Care Crisis

From Hale "Bonddad" Stewart at the HuffingtonPost.com a great article on the problem with health care in the United States.

Michael Moore's movie SiCKO has promoted the health care debate to front and center. While I have not seen the movie -- and probably won't -- I firmly agree with the need to create some type of national health insurance. There are three primary reasons for this.

While I will almost always advocate for a market based economic approach to allocating resources, health care is not an area where the profit motive should dominate decision making. Simply put, the end product is, always, a patient's health. Private health insurance has a conflict of interest between the insurance company and the insured which will be resolved in favor of the insurance company, almost, all the time.

Hypothetical case in point. Insured makes a claim with the insurance company, which is a publicly traded company. Because the insurance company is publicly traded they must turn a profit and increase their profits to maintain their share price. In order to make a profit they have every incentive to either

1. Deny the insureds claim, or
2. Delay payment to increase the possibility the insured will drop his claim

There are numerous stories about an insured making a routine claim only to be inundated with paperwork, or being told the policy doesn't cover that procedure, or being told the insurance company has to look into the claim to see if the insurance company can make a payment. In any of these situations the central idea of insurance -- to provide some safety for the insured at a specific cost -- is compromised.

In addition, insurance companies will seek to minimize the amount of money they would have to pay to the insured. Again, remember the product here is the patient's health. Supposed the insured has a disease where the cure is expensive but a cheaper alternative exists. However, the cheaper alternative would moderately or seriously compromise the insureds quality of life. Because the insurance company is profit-driven, it will probably opt for the cheaper treatment that compromises the insureds quality of life.

Secondly, private health care is more expensive than public health care. Here are three charts compiled from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The figures are from 2004.

First, the US spends the least amount of public money on health care.



However, the US spends the most on health care as a percentage of GDP


and on a per capita basis.



Notice the partially inverse relationship between public expenditures and total amount spent on health care. In short, publicly available health care is cheaper.

Finally there is the issue of competitiveness. General Motors of Canada is a good example.

"The Canadian plan has been a significant advantage for investing in Canada," says GM Canada spokesman David Patterson, noting that in the United States, GM spends $1,400 per car on health benefits. Indeed, with the provinces sharing 75 percent of the cost of Canadian health care, it's no surprise that GM, Ford and Chrysler have all been shifting car production across the border at such a rate that the name "Motor City" should belong to Windsor, not Detroit. Just two years ago, GM Canada's CEO Michael Grimaldi sent a letter co-signed by Canadian Autoworkers Union president Buzz Hargrave to a Crown Commission considering reforms of Canada's 35-year-old national health program that said, "The public health care system significantly reduces total labor costs for automobile manufacturing firms, compared to their cost of equivalent private insurance services purchased by U.S.-based automakers." That letter also said it was "vitally important that the publicly funded health care system be preserved and renewed, on the existing principles of universality, accessibility, portability, comprehensiveness and public administration," and went on to call not just for preservation but for an "updated range of services." CEOs of the Canadian units of Ford and Daimler-Chrysler wrote similar encomiums endorsing the national health system.

Health care costs are killing American business. Our international competitors don't have to deal with these costs. As a result, private health care is making US business less competitive. This in turn shifts jobs, business and money, overseas, thus impacting the US economy, even more. Get the picture?

So, public health eliminates a conflict of interest that compromises individual health, is cheaper and makes the US more competitive. And we don't have a public health system because?

Comparing Western and Chinese Medicine

The following article is result of several inquiries, over the years regarding the primary differences between western and Chinese medicine.

Age: Western medicine is a little over 200 years old. Chinese medicine dates back 8000 years ago.

Western medical philosophy: Wait for symptoms to appear, then treat the symptoms. Rooted in the concept of a collection of body parts and chemicals. Treatment methods involve the repair and replacement of body parts (surgery) and the "correction" of body chemistry by other chemicals (drugs).

Chinese medical philosophy: Prevent the occurrence of symptoms by keeping the entire mind-body-spirit in balance. Rooted in the concept that the body comprises complex energy systems continuosly striving to keep itself in balance.

Focus of western medicine: Trauma, emergency & surgical medicine. Analytical and compartmentalized approach. Superior in defending and eliminating external pathogens that threaten life.

Focus of Chinese medicine: Acute and chronic non-emergency medicine. Holistic approach. Superior in fundamentally prevention of disease and associated processes.

Western medical Cost's: Pay insurance premiums in order to have the right to have an average co-pay of $15 - 20 for office visits and $10 - 20 for prescription medications and annual deductible of $2000. Average monthly premium is between a car payment or mortgage payment or combination of the two ($200-1100 per month). Average family of four annual premium is $10,000, which approximates the annual salary of a minimum wage worker. Annual costs: $2400-13,200 + co-pays + average of $2000 deductible = $4400 - 15,200.

Chinese medical Cost's: Pay out of pocket for treatments. Average monthly maintenance & wellness treatments approx. $250. (1 acupuncture treatment, 1 massage, and custom herbal formulas). Annual costs for maintenance & wellness treatments are approximately $3000.

Western medical Care Responsibility: Managed care dictates that each patient relinquish control of their health and wellness over to the managed care provider (health insurance company).

Chinese medical Care Responsibility: Individual patient assumes control of their own health and wellness; works with their health care practitioner on obataining optimal results without third party insurance interference.

How western medicine succeeds: Insurance systems work best when the fewest number of participants actually use it (i.e. make claims). This way an insurer makes profit and is supposed to lower the premium which, in turn, brings more paying participants who are happy NOT TO USE the insurance, especially if it does not cost them too much. Remember, we are talking about real insurance and truly "insurable event" - something that is definitely undesirable.

How Chinese medicine succeeds: Health or wellness systems works best when the most people use it (i.e. get checkups, tests and preventative, maintenance treatments).

Western medical satisfaction: Managed health care, unfortunately, satisfies nobody. It enrages health care practitioners and consumers alike when it limits or denies payments on the grounds that the particular treatment or service is not medically necessary. It also frustrates insurers by mandating payment for routine services, whether they are really necessary or not. 46 million in US can not afford to have health insurance. 60% of uninsured are under the age of 35.

Chinese medical satisfaction: Those who are willing to take responsibility for their own health and wellness are the most satisfied, since they are working with their health care practitioner on a workable plan to attain optimum wellness.

Western medical Value System: Another basic problem with the current system: it's the belief that health care is a benefit of employment. So if you are unemployed, self-employed or employed by someone who lacks the negotiating power of big businesses - health insurance is not for you. The current fundamentally irrational health insurance system is designed for conflicts and lawsuits rather than providing the best health care at the best prices.

Chinese medical Value System: The value of Health is set predominately high versus placing high values on living a lifestyle or adopting habits that are counterproductive to health, longevity and wellness. Based on the concept of balance: mentally, physically, spiritually at a cost that is comparable to or less than health insurance premiums.

Western medical physician Malpractice Insurance: The cost of malpractice insurance has caused good doctors to leave there practices, due to ever increasing premiums, which are passed on to patients as increased treatment fees.

Chinese medical physician Malpractice Insurance: Since holistic medicine is less invasive, the risk of injury or death is dramatically lower, allowing for relatively low malpractice premiums, which allow for reduced fees for patient care.

Meridian Harmonics

Summer Referral Special

Refer a new patient and receive a $10 gift card to area merchants (ex. Starbucks, Movie Theaters, grocery stores, restaurants, etc. or $10 off your next acupuncture visit)

Discounts available from June through August 2007.
Not good with any other discount.

Green Tea Eases Rheumatoid Arthritis

Researchers have found that Green tea appears to act as a mild Cox-2 inhibitor. In addition to its cardiovascular and anticancer benefits, Green tea also seems to reduce inflammation and pain of rheumatoid arthritis. According to the Arthritis Foundation, about 2.1 million Americans have rheumatoid arthritis.

Historically, green tea is used in Chinese herbal medicine and dietary therapy to treat inflammatory conditions. It also has the ability to calm the stomach; relieve diarrhea, nausea and vomiting; treat headaches and help with treating damp stagnation leading to obesity.

Green tea stimulates the central nervous system, thus benefiting chemotherapy patients. It also reduces the risk of developing colon polyps and reduces total blood cholesterol.

One expert said the new green tea study was intriguing. "This study is very specific," said Stephen Hsu, an associate professor of dentistry, molecular medicine and genetics at the medical College of Georgia in Augusta.

Professor Hsu has found that green tea may help protect against certain autoimmune diseases, such as lupus and Sjogren’s syndrome, in which the body triggers an immune response, basically attacking its own cells.

Chinese herbal and dietary therapies are based on the concept of using the energetic properties of substances to counter the “nature” of a disease. Since green tea is bitter and cooling, it is easy to see how it can benefit most inflammatory conditions. There has been research that shows green tea mildly reversing MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) and PRSA (pefloxacin-resistant S. aureus), both dangerous infectious bacterial strains. Green tea is a safe herb. The only caution is that it contains caffeine and may interact with certain prescription medications.

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Summer Season’s Health Challenges

The recent onset of summer weather brings with it a season plagued with specific types of ailments. In Chinese medicine, each season is characterized by certain properties. The summer season will generally aggravate conditions having heat as an underlying cause.

Examples of symptoms and diseases sensitive to excessive external climatic heat are:

General signs & symptoms: skin rashes and itching, spasms, common cold, nodules and tumors, elevated sexual desire, diabetes, eczema, psoriasis, jaundice, hepatitis, convulsions, summer flu, acute viral and bacterial infections, edema, arthritis and joint pain, numbness, menopausal syndrome.

Upper Body: headache and migraines, emotional stress, red painful dry eyes, sore or swollen throat, irritability, restlessness, insomnia, high blood pressure, ringing in the ears, coughing with thick sputum, thirst, mouth ulcers, swollen and painful gums, mental confusion, cataracts, hyperthyroidism, dizziness, nosebleed, scrofula and goiter, upper respiratory problems, sinusitis, rhinitis, allergies, tuberculosis, asthma and wheezing, ear pain, insufficient lactation, strokes, lockjaw, hemiplegia, chest pain, palpitations.

Lower Body: constipation or diarrhea, urinary difficulty, hemorrhoids, urinary tract infections, menstrual problems, abdominal pain, miscarriage, genital itching, vaginal discharge, gallbladder pain, morning sickness, hernia, heartburn, acid reflux.

Oriental medicine is all about restoring the body to an optimal balanced state. Chinese herbal medicine, Chinese dietary therapy and acupuncture can all be used to treat “heat” type conditions. This is accomplished by clearing heat from the body, specific organs, and acupuncture meridians. One great example of a Chinese medicinal herb that clears heat from the body is green tea.

Meridian Harmonics

West Nile Virus Season & Buzzing Mosquitoes

When mosquitoes come so does the risk of West Nile Virus. People should take precautions to avoid infection of the West Nile Virus, which can seriously affect human health.

Mosquitoes that feed on infected birds carry WNV. When the infected mosquitoes feed on humans they transmit the disease. Usually, human infection starts to take hold in the mid to late summer.

Most humans who become infected will not get very ill. However, if more humans are infected in a given year, the number of complications and eventual deaths rises. The elderly and people with weakened immune systems are most at risk of health complications.

Mosquitoes lay their eggs in stagnant water. If you can limit the number of places around your home for mosquitoes to breed you will be reducing your chances of being bitten. Some simple measures can make a massive difference:

-- Remove all stagnant water around your home.
-- Make sure there are no discarded car tires lying around
-- Check areas you may have overlooked for recipients, which may collect water
-- Clean out rain gutters
-- Expose as little of your skin as you can when you go out
-- Try not to go out during dawn and dusk
-- Place netting over infant carriers when outdoors

Typical symptoms of WNV are: headache, high fever, neck stiffness, vomiting, skin rashes, stupor, disorientation, muscle weakness, tremors & convulsions, paralysis & coma. Chinese herbal medicine is a safe and effective treatment for WNV.

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Weight Loss Prevention for Hypertension

Reducing body weight is a "major component" in the treatment of hypertension, according to current research. Researchers found for approximately every two pounds dropped, blood pressure falls about 1 mm Hg.

According to Chinese medicine, normal and healthy blood pressure requires a subtle balance between several different organ systems. Patients also struggling with weight gain or obesity tend to fall into one of two categories: 1) Spleen disorders, 2) Kidney disorders.

When either or both of these organ systems are out of balance the Heart system can suffer tremendously. Weight gain and obesity are considered to be an overabundance of the Chinese pathogenic factor Dampness, which overburden the lymphatic system of western medicine. This is a filtration system for our blood and body fluids. It literally is a connection between our blood and other fluids in the body. As a result it is a connection between the Heart, Spleen and Kidneys.

When this system becomes stagnant, fluids begin to congregate and are not properly processed by our body. Fluid stagnation continues to build up pressure in the whole body causing stress in each of the body’s organs. As this pressure continues to rise, it overwhelms the body’s organs, preventing them from successfully fulfilling their individual functions. If allowed to continue our organs become weaker and more fragile and will eventually shut down leading to severe health problems or even death.

Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine can be very effective tools for those patients with hypertension who also need to lose weight.

Meridian Harmonics