Column #89

Americans are facing a life or death dilemma and they don’t realize it’s the system’s fault. That means everyone is on their own when it comes to protecting their life spans and finances.

If you aren’t seriously focusing on your health, your life span may be shorter than you’re anticipating. That’s because the system may soon “allow” people to die if medical costs exceed their personal finances and/or publicly available funds.

For young people, chronic diseases are mostly lifestyle inconveniences and rarely financial disasters. As people age though and death nears, chronic diseases cause unbearable suffering that can be extended with expensive drugs, operations, and machines. These late stage treatments lower the quality of life and increase costs.

The grim reality is shown by indexing per capita healthcare expenses by age group. The index starts at 1.0 for 18 year olds and gradually increases to 1.85 by age 40 when many people start hitting the wall. Then expenses accelerate with the index reaching 4.65 by age 65 and 10.25 by age 90. For the nation as a whole, about 5% of the population accounts for 50% all medical expenditures.

Medicare covers people over 65 and 25% of its budget pays for their last year of life. Among seniors who died in 2014, Medicare spending averaged $34,529 per beneficiary. Using an average life expectancy of 80 years, that means 5.35% of the budget is spent on the average beneficiary for each one of their 14 years and then 25% on their last year.

Our nation’s economy (GNP) is growing 2% annually. Healthcare costs, currently 18% of GNP, are growing 5.5% a year. Extend these trends and healthcare costs will be 20% of GNP in 2020 and 28% in 2030. Now factor in a rapidly growing number of retirees versus a slower growing number of workers. This is clearly unsustainable which means something has to give.

Everyday doctors witness lifestyle abuses and the financial toll caused by treating critically ill patients. That’s why many doctors would rather die early than get extended care for a whole host of treatments they routinely perform. So if medical professionals are choosing a shorter life instead of treatments, where do you think the “system” is headed?

Only you can control your odds of having an accident or developing a chronic disease. The good news is that suppressing and avoiding chronic diseases is easier than avoiding accidents. Chronic diseases are primarily caused by bodily abuse, mostly from eating improper foods. By eating healthy foods we can save and extend our lifestyles and wealth.

Decades of research has proven that the worst foods are low in nutrients, high glycemic, with unbalanced essential fatty acids (EFAs). On the opposite end of that spectrum are the healthiest foods: green leafy vegetables, wild-caught seafood, grass-fed meats, and omega-3 meats.

Learning how to eat for your health is difficult. The medical community mostly misrepresents nutritional research. The health food industry is primarily a marketing con game. The media mostly tells everyone what they want to hear. And many of the internet health gurus use scaremongering, schmooze, and myths to motivate people in order to monetize their websites.

Having the discipline to change is even more difficult. Tradition, addictions, social pressures, and ambivalence are powerful forces. So your job is cut out for you if you really want to have many years of healthy, happy living and the finances to enjoy it.

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.

Don’t miss these links for additional reading:

10 FAQs: Medicare’s Role in End-of-Life Care from Kaiser Family Foundation

Dying in a Hospital Means More Procedures, Tests and Costs from NPR

National Health Expenditure Fact Sheet by U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Health Care Costs—From Birth to Death by Society of Actuaries

Why 5% of Patients Create 50% of Health Care Costs from Forbes Magazine

The Myth Regarding the High Cost of End-of-Life Care from American Journal of Public Health

Health Care Costs and Choices in the Last Years of Life

The High Concentration of U.S. Health Care Expenditures from Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Why Doctors Don’t Want Their Own Medicine When They’re Dying from Psychology Today

How Do Physicians and Non-Physicians Want to Die? By Lisa Wade, PhD