UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE: CONTINUING THE DIALOGUE

by Dr. Pamela A. Popper

Dear Dr. Pam: I have enjoyed reading and listening to your words of wisdom for few years now. However, I was quite disappointed in your recent writing on universal health care. The impression I got is you believe that if everyone led a healthy life style and paid health insurance according to their lifestyle then we wouldn't need to make major changes to the US healthcare system. You seem to have overlooked the seriousness of the situation that thousands of people have chronic health problems or are uninsurable in this country (or certain states) through no fault of their own. My step son has type 1 diabetes and is uninsurable in Pennsylvania. The only option he has is to get a job that provides him with health insurance. We worry daily what will happen if he looses his job.

I have always led a healthy lifestyle but got Lyme disease several years ago which turned into recurring Lyme disease. Long antibiotic use over several years left me with side effects. When my company changed to a lower cost health insurance company they were concerned about my conditions and increased the rate for the whole group. Everybody else did not want to pay more so I could be on the same lower-cost insurance so I was forced to stay with the original company and pay a higher rate. This is wrong!

Dr. Pam's Response: Thank you for writing. My stance is not that if everyone practiced dietary excellence and optimal habits that we would not need to make changes to our healthcare system. What I am saying is that if everyone would practice dietary excellence and optimal habits, resources would be available to make positive changes to our healthcare system, which includes coverage for those conditions that develop outside of the health care consumer's control.

Insurance is designed to indemnify people against loss which is not due to the recklessness and carelessness of the insured. For example, your automobile insurance is sold to you based on the insurance company's assessment of the risk you pose - if you have speeding tickets, numerous accidents and several DUI's, insurance may not be available and if it is, it is at a very high cost. Everyone understands this - people with excellent driving records do not want to subsidize costs for careless drivers. They don't mind, however, paying for accidents that just happen sometimes, even for responsible drivers.

Additionally, insurance should be covering the costs of unexpected medical care, not day-to-day maintenance of the human body. Again, the comparison to casualty insurance is valid. I am expected to maintain my home and only notify the insurance company in the event of catastrophe. Can you imagine the costs of homeowners' and automobile insurance if routine maintenance was reimbursable? If every oil change, window replacement and paint job was to be paid for by the insurance company?

The health care system in our country is in need of reform - I don't think there are many thinking individuals who would not agree with that statement. This reform needs to be comprehensive and deal with everything from how nutrition and health policies are developed to making sure that consumers know that there are alternatives to drugs and surgery.

But 85% of the money we are spending on health care is for degenerative diseases which are preventable and reversible, and if that money was made available for other uses, we would be able to provide health care to all Americans with money to spare. I'm simply proposing that we all take responsibility and do our part to free up those funds, and that this is a better alternative than asking government to pick up the tab for the broken, ineffective and expensive system currently in place.

Article printed with permission from Dr. Pamela A. Popper and taken from Newsletters Volume 5 Issue 48. Dr. Popper is the founder and Executive Director of The Wellness Forum, a chain of health and wellness centers located throughout the United States and the Far East.