Gray Skies Ahead for the Medical Field?

When I graduated from nursing school in the late 1960’s I, like most new medical professionals, felt I had just joined a group that would bring about great changes in health care. The new technical advancements in diagnostic procedures and treatments were very promising.

But, over the past 40 years, I have become aware of some disturbing facts – information that has forced me to better investigate our present health care system and to look elsewhere for a basis of my hope for a healthier world.

What I have come to realize is:

The medical establishment, as it is presently set up, is not so much interested in keeping people healthy as it is in making money off of people being sick.
There are many inexpensive, non-pharmaceutical remedies that have been used successfully for centuries but are not allowed in our country.
Most health challenges can be avoided (or significantly decreased) by dietary and lifestyle changes, yet traditional medicine fails to give credence to this.

Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalists Donald Barlett and James Steele seem to share my opinion. In their book Critical Condition, How Health Care in America Became Big Business & Bad Medicine, they discuss how the high cost of health care in our country has not brought an increase in longevity, but does seem to have delivered financial gain for those behind the health care policies.
The health care system in our country is teetering precariously on a crumbling triangle. The three sides include:

- The providers (practitioners, clinics, and hospitals) who struggle to offer the latest high tech services while receiving only a fraction of their billings.
- The insurance companies (and the government) who are unable to cover the cost of all the claims for services provided.
- The consumer who can no longer afford health insurance or even the most vital health care.

Soon there will be fewer medical centers and only the very rich will be able to afford to have their medical needs met.

At this time there are those who, because they have some sort of medical coverage, feel they will not be held responsible for their bill and therefore use health services freely. One young woman enjoyed an ambulance ride to her local ER with the complaint of severe menstrual cramps! Yet a man who was without insurance because he was between jobs almost declined medical care during a heart attack because the hospitalization would ruin his family financially. He stated that his wife would be better off if he had just died! No one, especially in our country, should suffer this disparity! Neither of these situations should be allowed to continue!

I don’t mean to only paint a picture of doom and gloom, but would rather have this writing motivate people to take more responsibility for their state of health. What would you do if you suddenly had no health insurance, or could not afford your medications? My concern is that very few people have a basic knowledge of how to stay healthy. And, in my opinion, that is the only security we have for health in the near future.
Health “assurance” will be much better than any insurance could be.

Andrew Weil, MD, a noted author and health educator, recently stated in an interview with Larry King that he expects the health care system will soon collapse in on itself. Instead of a dependence on pharmaceuticals he encourages prevention of disease by supporting a more natural state of health. What can you do to ensure you and your family will be able to enjoy a healthy future?

Keli MacIntosh has 40 years of experience in the medical field as a Registered Nurse. She is also a Certified Nutritional Consultant and manager of Natural Health Specialists. For a health consultation, call Keli at (231) 946-3872.