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Submitted by Fritz Scheffel
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DEFINING HEALTH CARE
Defining and understanding health care is the first step toward developing solutions that will fix Health Care. The issues Americans face when it comes to having access to health care services has become too complicated and expensive. The good news, it does not have to be that way. Let’s go back to the beginning of my experience in the field when the industry was driven by market forces, in other words, free-enterprise. While private health insurance was available, it was not the driving force it is today. Doctors treated anyone in need, hospitals were there for those in need of intensive care, independent retail pharmacies and pharmacists were not only a cornerstone of respectability in communities, but played a role in health care because of their availability to the public when it came to understanding health issues.
Beginning in the late 1960’s or early 1970’s the government became more active in health care by creating Medicare and a plethora of other entitlement programs they marketed as “help for the poor”. As their programs grew beyond the capabilities of the government to administer, they began turning these programs over to health insurance companies because of their management skills. Thus health insurance became the face of health care. During this time, I was active in the industry and as health care moved from a free-enterprise, market driven industry to the bureaucratic nightmare it is today I gained a unique perspective. With history as a guide I now know beyond a shadow of doubt, these government programs were nothing more than vote buying schemes created by our elected politicians and the nonsense continues to this day.
Today most Americans define health care as health insurance. They are incorrect but they have no reference to understanding health care any differently. For the last forty or fifty years, thanks to politicians and a misguided news media, all we have heard is that everyone should have health insurance. Thus when I made the decision to write my book “Health Care: It Can Be Fixed” the first thing I had to do was define health care accurately. As I thought through the process, which seemed complicated, I realized the definition of health care is relatively simple. Health care is treating and living with whatever health issue an individual may experience. If anyone lives a healthy life style by eating the right foods and exercising regularly they can eliminate over 50% of the possible illnesses or diseases they could possibly have. Healing does not come from a doctor, or drugs, or hospitals, or health insurance companies or even the government. Your body is the only source of healing. So, a definition for health care will be somewhat different for everyone. To anyone suffering with diabetes, or epilepsy, or high blood pressure, or whatever the condition, that condition becomes their health care concern.
Please understand the United States has arguably the best health care system in the world. It is not totally healthy, but is still the best because people can get treatments they need it in a timely manner. When discussing health care we also must discuss societal issues that adversely affect our health individually. I will leave you with two facts to ponder. The first is that approximately 10% of our citizens use up 90% of this country’s health care resources. The second is that only 20% of our federal budget is use for constitutionally mandated government responsibilities while 80% is spent on vote buying schemes thanks to our elected politicians. We have a lot of work to do, but it can be done. My first book tells us how we can fix the health care system. I a second book available as an “ebook” with title of “Ten Tenets For Better Health”, both of which are available through Amazon Kindle. I would be interested in any question you have about health care. Have a great day!
Fritz Scheffel
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