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Why Healthcare Is So Expensive?

The Real reason healthcare is so expensive is that most people get sick and die, but most of them really don’t want to.

More technically, as long as most people get sick and/or die when they don’t want to, the demand for better health will far exceed the supply.

As long as Americans demand more health treatment and medicine than is technologically available, and as long as a lot of Americans have a lot of money to pay for health care, American health care will be expensive. Furthermore, the heath treatments and medicines that are available will continue to increase. The more healthcare that is available, the more treatments insurance has to cover.

Sure, medical lawsuits and medical drug research greatly add to the expense of health care, but if people weren’t concerned about getting sick and dying, then there would be no medical lawsuits or medical drug research.

Q.E.D.

Think about it, how many prescription drugs had to be covered by insurance 10 years ago? 30 years ago? (A lot fewer.)

How many MRIs and CAT scans had to be covered by insurance 50 years ago? (CAT Scan? How do you spell that?)

Well, there may be another cost driver, but it is still really all about the demand for better health. What is the sum total cost of all prescription drugs? A lot? But how necessary are prescription drugs? Which is better, taking a drug for a condition that lasts a lifetime or changing behavior to prevent that condition? The answer is clear for the investor. Who would invest in someone who is researching a cure rather than invest in someone who is researching an expensive drug? Who would prefer to sell a $50 book to someone over selling that person a $50 prescription drug every month for life? The demand for preventions and cures instead of prescription drugs that just treat symptoms must come from the educated consumer!

Hah! Maybe you thought I was going to blame gluten? Well, suppose if just half of the cases of diabetes, epilepsy, heart disease, lymphoma cancers, and many other expensive chronic diseases could be prevented just through a change in diet? (a conservative estimate) To wonder for yourself just how much eating gluten may be adding to the cost of health care, please take a look at the lists of conditions and diseases associated with gluten intolerance: please see the Annotated List Of Symptoms And Health Problems Associated With Gluten Sensitivity.

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