Here’s to your Health

The truth is that We Do Not Have a Health Care System.

What America has is a health care puzzle. We have a bunch of antiquated pieces cobbled together in a process that was not thought out, nor integrated. This includes the Veterans System, as well as the Indian Health Care System, as well as Disability, and various types of Medicare and Medicaid, the Children Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Affordable Health Care subsidies, The Military Healthcare Services, Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, Substance Abuse and Mental health Services (SAMHSA), the Ryan White program, the Community Health Care clinic system… and on… and on.

The majority of these programs are functional and helpful. But collectively they contribute to our Federal Deficit by the tune of around $1.6 trillion every year - making it the largest category by far of federal spending.

There is no need to eliminate anything. We believe that it makes sense to create an integrated system and streamline all of these bits and pieces under one organized plan or plans This would be studied and carefully implemented. The result would be more efficient and lead to better care - especially for the IHS and Veterans Systems who suffer from staff shortages and limitations.

But change is always frightening and will always be fought- Even when the current state is horrific.

We are one of a handful of countries without universal healthcare along with Afghanistan and Somalia. Unlike the US, countries such as Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and Sweden have excellent healthcare outcomes statistically and their citizens have little if any health care costs. Of course, this creates higher taxes to offset the service.

Which brings up the question, which of these countries has the highest percentage of their taxes appropriated for national health care? Check it out for yourself - it is the USA. When all countries in the world are compared, the USA has the most tax dollars spent on the healthcare system as well as the highest percentage of our taxes that are earmarked for healthcare - a fact that the industry hides.

Currently there are around 28 million people in the US with no medical coverage. Between 2025 and 2031 the number of uninsured is expected to balloon by 16% to nearly a tenth of the population including many who are the poorest and most prone to illness.

Meanwhile half a million Americans file for bankruptcy because of out of control medical costs in the US. It is estimated that 61% of all bankruptcies in the United States are linked to medical expenses. In Germany, New Zealand and France the number of bankruptcies due to medical costs is zero.

Yet the cost is staggering. Medicare currently costs $865 billion every year, Medicaid costs $618 billion. ACA and chip costs $141 billion. The VA is 153 billion per year and combined with all other programs it account for over a trillion dollars of the budget every year. Roughly 25% of the federal budget is for medical coverage. It is hard to convey how massive this is - It is the elephant in the room.. And it is going to get bigger. By 2031 medical costs are destined to be 6.4% of our GDP.

You see, good medical systems are not about more money. They are about efficiency.

What we truly can not afford to do is …. nothing.

The cost savings need to happen.

The efficiency needs to happen.

Let’s think about it logically and organize the various federal health programs into a health care system that works for everyone.