Sick people are the problem, apparently

Jon Herring writes in the eNewsletter "Early to Rise" (Tuesday, August 14, 2007) about the U.S. health care system (www.earlytorise.com). The bizarre movie, “Sicko,” prompted Herring’s piece. He praises Moore for illustrating what’s wrong with the U.S. health care system, but disagrees with Moore’s solution. Moore, of course, wants more government care, while shutting down a market-based system.

Herring, however, goes on to repeat yet another tired mantra: He says that what’s wrong with the health care system is that it’s geared to treating sickness. Well, as my children used to say, “duh!”

Herring, quite properly and effectively stresses good health as the best antidote to what ails the health care system. In this, he joins the other billions of people on the planet who have common sense. If all of us took better care of ourselves, we will need less medical treatment, fewer prescription medicines, and perhaps, will avoid artificial organs and other medical devices. No one can fault him for that logic: Its just lacks scope.

Imagine yourself after a lifetime of good diet, vigorous exercise, low stress, and a lot of rest, lying in a hospital dying of nothing. Everyone dies. Everyone dies from something (two incontrovertible laws). And accidents happen, as do communicable diseases. People get sick. People suffer.

The U.S. health care system exists for these specific purposes: to reduce pain and suffering, and to extend human life. In its truest sense, then, its purpose for existing is to treat sick and hurting people.

Herring, and others like him, want a health care system that cares for healthy people, investing more heavily in preventive medicine. Preventive medicine is cheap to provide, except when it discovers a previously-hidden chronic illness, or a benign fatty tumor that results in surgery. Then it can lead to pricy, life-saving treatments.

We can all advocate for good health. We can even shape up our own bodies. We can buy all the preventive health care services imaginable. But in the real world, we still need a health care system to treat sick people, and treating sick people costs a lot of money - a lot more than not treating healthy people.

One last point about Jon Herring’s harangue: He writes, “But don’t expect changes in this broken system. The drug companies like it just fine the way it is…” Beware the salesman who must blame others in order to sell his products, as does Jon Herring. It's just plain dumb to accuse pharmaceutical companies of wanting people to be sick. That's like blaming gas stations for selling gas to people with empty gas tanks.

The fact is that if we are to force the health care system to change in positive ways, it will take the combined efforts of millions of Americans engaging in the purchase of health care services. It would also help immensely if those millions of health care consumers lost weight, quit smoking, drank less, ate healthier, and walked every day.