Health Care-Check-Ups and Related Issues

September is my time for health care check-ups. A few days ago I saw my dermatologist for a check-up. She was checking my face. Her eyes were closed which I thought was a little weird, but probably necessary for her peace of mind. Anyway, she pinched my nose and I went “beep beep”. This very serious all business Doctor stopped for a second and then totally cracked up. She said in 37 years of practice, no one had ever done that before.

The next day I saw my GP. He is great for many reasons, one being he takes the time to listen to me and my concerns. We went thru all my recent tests, some looked good, some not so much. We also went thru my health history and towards the end, he said you seem to have no memory loss. I said I don’t think so. I said some think I am losing my memory, but the reality is I did not care enough to listen in the first place and you cannot forget something you never heard.

The reality was he was checking for any signs of dementia which is terrible disease and is an increasing risk for people as they age. The good news, no sign of it at this time for me. There are considerable signs of me not giving an “F” about much which has increased over the years.

This past summer I went to urgent care three separate times for the same problem. The problem was embarrassing to me because I always felt it was an old fat white man’s disease. I had gout in my right foot. I read a lot of medieval history and gout was common among the aristocracy because they were rich and could afford to eat a lot of meat and drink huge amounts of wine or beer. Many famous men had gout including Ben Franklin. In today’s world, gout is common and can affect anyone as I heard many stories of men, some who were not overweight and had gout in their 30s and 40s. For me, gout was a side effect of kidney disease.

Gout was the second most painful thing I have ever had just a little less than the blood clot I developed after biking across Iowa. The nurse at the time said you have something bigger than a dime going thru something the size of pinhole, its going to hurt. It was like have glass pieces in my foot and did not matter if I stood, sat or laid down. I am sure it goes without saying I did keep playing pickle ball for a few days, but then gave up and went to Urgent Care. I was put on some meds which worked, but a couple of weeks later it came back so more meds. I think I missed playing pickle ball one day through the entire process. I have been told I can be stubborn, hard to believe.

Just saw my kidney dude [that’s what a call him in my mind], I actually call him Doctor. He’s amazing and I was lucky to have found him. We went thru the numbers from a different perspective, most good, some could be better. We also talked about mental health, specifically mine. Mine was fine, so was his. It was an interesting conversation. Be it a long-term disease like mine or something short-term, one of the concerns for health care in addition to physical challenges is the mental challenge. The excellent doctors, which I am lucky enough to have, understand this.

All this got me thinking about my health care the past twelve months. I have been to three separate Urgent Care facilities, two multiple times, spent 36 hours in two separate ERs, and in addition to my GP, saw four separate specialists. I have had excellent care, fifty years ago I would have departed the circle of life a long time ago.

All this health care costs money. And back in my owning firm days, my share of our business heath care was well over $20,000 annually. Now, in my case, the combination of Medicare and Supplement covers most of it. What I pay for health care and what it costs are two separate things. Please note the following facts:
– The per capita cost of health care in the US is about $13,500. The next closest country is Switzerland at about $8,000. The US spends about two times the average for developed countries.
– The per capita of health care for those age 65 and over is much higher at well over $20,000 annually.
– For those on Medicare, it is important to note that Medicare enrollees pay about 15% of the total cost of Medicare, payroll taxes account for 36%, general revenue or the federal government is 43%. The remaining balance, about 6%, comes from several different sources.
– If you look at a projection of health care spending going forward, especially for those on Medicare, you might want to sit down. It’s not sustainable.
– The good news is there are good options for reducing health care spending, some are being implemented now, others are coming down the road. They include transparency, ending duplication, increased use of A-I and automation. The most important cost saving device will be going to a single payer plan for all citizens. I would suggest the best option will be a combination of Medicare for all along with supplements purchased individually based on individual needs.

“Some” will say this is sounds like socialized medicine. Review the above facts. It may be some are dumb. The reality is we already have socialized medicine, but we’re just not very good at it. But we can get better.

The cost and future health care should be at least a top ten if not top five issue for all of us. Instead, we have been talking about the Republican Candidate for President who continually makes outrageous deceitful statements such such as immigrants in Ohio are eating dogs and cats. Trump said recently he wants to repeal Obama Care which among other things, eliminated the pre-existing condition for obtaining health insurance enabling millions or Americans to obtain health insurance at standard rates. It makes absolutely no sense to repeal Obama Care, improve it yes, repeal it no. Trump also said he had a “concept” of health care plan. I for one do not think he has a concept of anything including health care.

Of all the many reasons why Harris will be a much better President than for the US than Trump, is Harris understands the increasing cost of health care in the US and the options for reducing it. The current cost of health care is not sustainable. Harris has the ability to sustain the quality of our health care for all US citizens and reduce the per capita cost.