In 1962, gas was 25 cents a gallon, a doctor’s visit was $5, the average income was about $6,000 per year and few had medical insurance. The pharmacy ledger for Lowry Drug Company, dated June 16, 1962 listed the prescriptions filled. Cash prices ranged from $1.00 to at high of $10.50. When I graduated college and started work in 1980, gas was $1.19 a gallon, average income was about $19,000 per year and insurance coverage was rare. If you had insurance, you would submit a paper claim at the end of the year. The first prescription processing company offered insurance with a low “copay” for about $2.00. Patients loved this because they always knew their prescription cost. Unfortunately, this was the beginning of the end…patients never knew the TOTAL cost of the drug. All they cared about was how much they paid at the cash register. Drug prices started going up, followed by insurance premiums. Patients never considered insurance premiums as being part of the cost of their prescription. Insurance copayments were a way to hide actually cost.
If you look at ObamaCare, you find reforms mostly in insurance coverage and access to care. There are people in the country without the ability to obtain coverage. We would like for everyone to be taken care of, however, none of us can be insured against every possible risk. I view health care as very personal with a moral aspect. Most health professionals are caring people. Unfortunately, the pharmaceutical/insurance industry does not share the same view. The current Gross Domestic Product for health care in the US
The current focus of ObamaCare does not understand the problem... the disease we create and an unaffordable health care system. Without change our country will collapse under the weight of our costly medical system. Who will be left to take care of the sick?
We create disease on a personal level with the daily choices we make about what we eat and how we live our lives. Government will never fix this. As a country, we create disease by allowing our world to become toxic, continuing genetic modified food, and applying some drug/disease interventions that are harmful. Pharmaceutical companies have demonstrated their willingness to offer prescription medications and treatments that violate the “do no harm” pledge.
Fraudulent pharmaceutical companies create part of our society’s legal environment. Conversely, our pro-litigation culture imposes a “standard of care” that must employ expensive diagnostics procedures to “rule out” possibilities that most know do not exist.
What is the answer? Take a proactive approach to your health and life. Good hygiene, quality food, positive thoughts, and moderate activity are your best steps to staying healthy. Most of us can not afford to be sick so invest in your health for a better future.
Stay Well!
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