We should consider this
in the health care debate. Data is available for
discussion. Numerous studies have shown that 80% of
primary care visits to health care practitioners involve the ordinary
suffering of daily life and not diseases that need treatment, yet we
throw pills and potions at these woes as if that is their solution.
Health care reform will never work unless we find cost-effective
ways to address the ordinary woes of daily life and stop attempting to
medicate them away.
This will not happen until insurance coverage is expanded to include coverage of prevention and non-pharmacological therapies. I would be thrilled if we moved toward a system that rewards good outcomes. If I were paid in accordance with people's getting better instead of compliance with a list of covered services, I would be much better off finacially and might find more effectiveness and sense of satisfaction from within insurance reimbursed services. That would be a novel experience I would welcome.
