I suppose I am getting older (as we are all prone to do), because I find myself comparing things to years past or thinking that a movie is “fairly new” only to later learn that the movie is like 20 years old! Another thing is that I’m consistently shocked at the cost of everything: gas, groceries, and utility bills, just to name a few.
The key for us both health wise and financially is: how can we protect our long term health in a cost effective manner? Now, if this was an easy answer our healthcare costs as a nation wouldn’t be so out of control. America spends roughly 18% of its gross domestic product on health! This is a number that is significantly higher than any other nation. This works out to $8500 per person. Every man, woman, and child….$8500. This is $3000 per person more than any other country. Yet, we don’t live longer than our counterparts from around the world and we are more healthy than them in general.
Faced with numbers like these, it is easy to become discouraged. My opinion is this: a good first step to taking control of our health and health finances is to take back personal responsibility as individuals. It is clear that healthcare in our country is more expensive and less effective than it should be, but our healthcare system is not the singular entity to be blamed. We all should carry some of the burden. Some of the most expensive diseases and problems to treat are of the chronic variety and these are generally lifestyle induced (most heart disease, some cancers, and type 2 diabetes are some examples). Meaning: we as individual Americans can be part of the solution by choosing to live differently.
By differently I mean this: maintain a healthy weight, quit smoking, exercise daily, eat fruit and veggies as the core of your diet, drink more water, get more sleep, and regularly get adjusted. We need more reliance on good lifestyle choices and less reliance on quick and artificial fixes. Note, none of these things have to be expensive or time consuming. They can, however, help you become more healthy today and into the future. All of those easy actions listed, can help prevent lifestyle diseases. If you reduce your risk of chronic lifestyle diseases, you will save money, live longer, and have a higher quality of life. Further, you will fulfill your civic duty to be healthy and help reduce national healthcare costs.
I don’t believe that our skyrocketing healthcare costs are going to be fixed by politicians or lawmakers. I don’t think the nearly 18 cents of every American dollar that is going to healthcare is going to be reduced by more quick fixes from pharmaceutical companies. I think the problem is going to improve when individuals take control of their health with their everyday choices. When this happens: the individual will be healthier, save money for themselves, and will become part of the healthcare solution.
This information can be both liberating and scary, depending on your perspective and your mind set. Scary, because it means no more excuses, no more “I’ll start/stop/quit on Monday”, no more shirking responsibility. It can be scary, because it means a large part of our success will be tied to our daily choices. It is also, however, liberating because it means we aren’t and don’t have to be victims. We can take control and be the primary shapers of our long term health. We are major players in the quality of our days. This can be a powerful and beautiful thing. My hope for all of us, is that we stop being scared victims, beholden to a future from which we are disconnected. Rather, we are all free people, who embrace this challenge and live lives that are long, healthy, and full of reached potential.
In Health, Dr. Graham