Americans spend billions on health care

We need DogiCaid before it’s too late

My “Business Week” magazine came on Saturday. Dated August 6, 2007, the cover features a very ugly (in my opinion) dog. The dog is wearing gold bling and a diamond tiara.

“The Pet Economy” sits in huge, blocked letters next to the ugly, fancied-up dog. And herein lies a most interesting factoid.

“Americans now spend $41 billion on their pets,” says the article on page 44. We learn here that $41 billion exceeds the GDP of 78 nations.

Of that $41 billion, $9.9 billion goes to supplies and over-the-counter medical products. (The article doesn’t mention doggie generics, but maybe a Congressional committee could investigate this to cut the cost of doggie pharmaceuticals.)

Another $9.8 billion is paid to veterinarians. Outrageous sums of money like this demands federal government intervention. Clearly, doggie care has gotten out of control. We need a DogiCaid program for low income cat and dog lovers.

Actually, my real reflection about this is based on the much-repeated mantra of the government-knows-best health reformers, the one that goes, “Americans spend twice as much on health care as do other nations.”

Hey, Americans spend $41 billion on their pets! We have bigger houses. More cars. TV sets. Our grocery stores are the world’s envy.

We spend nearly $10 billion on doggie health care.

Americans spend 16 percent of U.S. GDP on health care because we can. And the wealthier we become as a nation, the more we will spend on health care. While we do not spend it wisely, and health care cost is a great concern, the fact that we spend it should not astonish anyone.

We spend $41 billion on our pets!