The Health Care Customer is Always Right

For years we were told to show our health insurance cards and everything would be taken care of.

And it was...and now we can't afford it. We failed as consumers to question charges, necessity of tests and risk/cost versus benefit for each proposed treatment. We failed to demand older and well tested medications that work just as well, if not better, than the latest heavily marketed drug. Or is there an even safer over-the-counter medication option? I realized quickly that the newest marketed drugs are not even necessary. This became obvious when commercials tried to convince us that erectile dysfunction was America's greatest health threat. Now we have celebrities promoting drugs for osteoporosis and growing longer and thicker eyelashes. Then we realized that it is all about advertising and not medicine.

We failed to treat our health insurance cards as if we were handing over a check or cash and now we are paying for it. Paying for what? The excess of a health care system that constantly tells us that it is the greatest health care system in the world. If it is then why are Americans sicker than ever? Why are we an obese, unhealthy, diabetic, asthmatic, autistic, antidepressant, Alzheimer's and cancer-ridden country? The war on cancer has been waged for how many years? Do we have better outcomes or just more expensive tests and procedures? Just take breast cancer for example. As women we are told to wear loose fitting bras because breast tissue is delicate and susceptible to cancer. Then please explain mammography to me. Why not switch to CAT scans, ultrasound or MRI tests? Because the system is too heavily vested in mammography equipment. The clinics dedicated to mammography are huge structures created for the sole purpose of crushing our breasts in a vice every year, what possible motivation would they have to change? Try that logic on testicular cancer and see how quickly mammography will disappear.

The best private option is as follows: 1) Stay home if you are sick and give your body the rest it needs. Take over-the-counter pain or cold medicines that are tried and true. Eat some homemade chicken soup and watch a funny movie. 2) Start walking every day at home (no gym membership) for thirty minutes and drink more water. 3) When your doctor gives you bad news ask what the outcomes are with or without treatment. We will all die at some point. How do you choose to die, as a medical experiment that failed, or as a dignified human being at home with family and loved ones? Let me make it clear that I am opposed to euthanasia. What I am trying to stress is that you have a choice. Do not ever be made to feel that you have no choice. YOU are the customer.

For example, if your kidneys fail you have two choices. To go on dialysis for the rest of your life, face amputations and transplants or go home and die peacefully at home within two weeks. With all considerations include your family's financial future. Why bankrupt your family both financially and emotionally? Just remember the choice is yours.

If you have cancer determine your risk versus outcome and then decide if the proposed treatments will help you or just put you and your family through a nightmare. Hospice can be called in for any terminal illness and can give you more information and instructions than anyone on using pain medicine. It is a wonderful option for persons who choose to stay at home.

Our best private option is to stop buying health insurance and to stop buying into a system that is not perfect. Ask a physicians assistant for every day issues. Force the insurance companies to provide better service to its customers. If you have a serious illness consult with a physician and a specialist.

Take a friend with you who can take detailed notes and then you can discuss the options in the privacy of your own home. Question risk versus outcome. Question cost. And then you will take back the responsibility for your own health care.

If we stop supporting the system then the system will have no choice but to adapt to the demands of the consumer. Then, and only then, will we see free enterprise and capitalism in action.

Remember, the customer is always right.