Health Care Dollars – The Want Because of the Waste

Health care dollars seem to out pace the speed of light.

More than $750 Billion of the total $2.5 trillion spent annually on health care in the US is waste.  This number does not include the immeasurable wasted dollars from lack of prevention and better initial care. In a recent Gallup poll, people cited the high cost of healthcare as their most disturbing financial concern. According to the National Academy of Medicine, if we could save and reinvest that $750  billion in waste, more than the budget of the Defense Department, we could  insure 150 million Americans. If we saved half, we could buy groceries for every family in America for a year…..that certainly puts it into perspective! And most obviously, by eliminating the waste we could halt the obscene rising costs. Some states are reporting their healthcare premiums will rise 45-57% in 2018.

There are a number of culprits labelled in this  flushing of health care dollars. 

• hospitals discarding perfectly good supplies, multi billions
• over treatment & testing
• dramatic differences in costs
• excessive administrative costs
• pharmaceutical…….
• medical errors
• fraud…….

Point is, until the powers that be deal with this situation, how can we save health care dollars, and still provide people the availability and affordability in healthcare.

This is not a problem to go away quickly – it seems waste in healthcare has become almost normalized.

Harvard Business School:
“A comprehensive demand-side strategy that gives consumers incentives and information to be much better purchasers of health care, and an aggressive supply-side strategy that changes the way providers are paid so their profit margins are tightly linked to outcomes and efficiency rather than the volume of services delivered. We believe that the United States should pursue both strategies. ”

• Give consumers better information to be better purchasers of health care
• providers are paid so profit margins dependent on outcomes & efficiency

Let’s come better health care purchasers:

The range in costs across the country for the same procedure. A knee replacement in Tucson can cost $21K and $38k in Sacramento. Even within California, there is a $30k fluctuation in knee replacement costs.

Yes, different locations will have higher costs to cover, overhead demands.

Greyed out states –  data not available. Albeit this data is a couple of years old , however, we need to research best providers, best providers. Medical tourism  within the United States.

The tragedy, more reasons to look for the best providers……

The IOM estimated deaths because of medical errors as high as 98,000 a year. … His  (Martin Makary, a professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins 2016) calculation of 251,000 deaths equates to nearly 700 deaths a day — about 9.5%  of all deaths annually in the United States. Published in the BMJ,   “medical errors” in hospitals and other health-care facilities are incredibly common and may now be the third-leading cause of death in the United States — claiming 251,000 lives every year, more than respiratory disease, accidents, stroke and Alzheimer’s.

The supplement like a flu shot against oxidative stress…..

Why are we not controlling chronic illness? We must control the wildfire of inflammation and lower oxidative stress. We know oxidative stress is at the root of chronic illness such as cancer, heart disease, depression….We take a flu shot to prevent the flu – one simple supplement to lower your oxidative stress by as much as 40%.    7 patents, 24 peer reviewed studies on pubmed, accolades from American Heart Association, Mayo Clinic, National Institute on Aging….Washington State: “may well become the most extraordinary therapeutic and most extraordinary preventative breakthrough in the history of medicine.”

calendly.com/Shira-Litwack

Health Tech…saving dollars and health, chronic care management…….Shira@BestInCorporatehealth.com

Let us customize your corporate health program.

Chief Health Enthusiast – Best In Corporate Health

• Shira is regularly consulted by Naturopaths, oncologists, health coaches on cancer exercise and exercise adherence.
• Has assembled over 20 health and fitness professionals with varying specialties to bring to corporate wellness programs
• Platforms include: Speaking, One-one/group health coaching, Retreats, Course development for in house delivery, Metrics to measure success available, Partners always included
• Now offering live interactive webinars, just as if each participant has a personal health coach – making corporate wellness programs affordable to all.
• Shira has been interviewed & published in hundreds of resources over the last 15 years:

Articles featured in:  European Registry of Exercise Professionals, The National Post, Investment Executive Magazine, Directory of Greater Toronto, Canadian Leukemia & Lymphoma Association, Prostate Cancer Canada, Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, Anytime Fitness, Today’s Black Woman, Today’s Seniors, Medical Fitness Network, FORCE (Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered), Willow (Breast & Hereditary Cancer Support),Myeloma Canada, Cancer Exercise Training Institute, Urban Poling for Breast Cancer, ROW – Recovery on Water for Breast Cancer, Sirius XM Doctor Radio