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Sunday, Sep. 13, 2009

Lots of room for improvement in health care

By Dan Sisk , In Focus

West Nile virus? Big deal. Bird flu? Yawn. Swine flu? Whatever. Not drinking your milk? Your days are numbered.

New medical studies indicating wide-scale vitamin D deficiencies in the U.S. floored me. Human skin normally produces this important nutrient naturally when exposed to sunlight. Or, to a lesser degree, people can absorb vitamin D from food.

However, people in northern latitudes have a tough time getting enough sun, and one would have to drink nearly two gallons of milk daily to get the recommended dosage. Not even my teenagers can do that.

And all that sunscreen doctors' recommend? That just makes it worse. Now the really bad news: Apparently, researchers have uncovered possible links between vitamin D deficiency and heart disease, colon cancer and other ailments. Yikes!

Fortunately, you can purchase a bottle of vitamin D supplements for a few bucks. But this main street view of the health care speaks little of Beltway machinations.

First, we watched news accounts spotlighting the White House swinging deals with the AMA and major hospitals. Then we heard about congressmen bustling between committee hearings and Big Pharma-sponsored fundraisers.

Meanwhile, constituents fell under attack from rumor mongers and then started burning effigies and waving swastikas at town hall meetings. Looks like there's more to this than a lack of vitamins.

It seems most folks shouting down their representatives have health insurance and like the health care they get. I pretty much fit into this group but without the swastikas. My employer provides decent health insurance options, and my doctors do a fine job despite a couple of foul-ups.

In fact, I feel a little guilty. I once had a crick in my neck, and the X-ray technician misread it as some kind of cancer. After a pricey bone scan, it turned out I just needed a chiropractor.

Later, a sore shoulder sent me to the specialist and then to the MRI. No doubt the doctor and three specialists required to prep me and take the pictures put a hefty surcharge on the MRI mortgage payment. Resulting diagnosis: vanilla arthritis. Treatment: take up sudoku.

Now, it's nice having access to the latest diagnostic technology, but this puts me into a shrinking elite class. And it's getting harder to make the cut.

For example, a self-employed family friend has an insurance premium equivalent to a new car payment (sans any cash-for-clunkers deal). Tough choice to make if you need a vehicle. If you can't afford either, take your vitamins.

Somewhere out there a poor sap needed a bone scan or MRI more than I did and didn't get one because he couldn't afford it. Maybe he couldn't even afford to ask the question.

There's something wrong about that. There's also something wrong about all the paperwork choking our doctors. Or all the hoops they have to jump through to protect themselves from lawsuits.

And the lawyers and insurance companies sure seem to be making a lot of money. Meanwhile, rising costs put the squeeze on businesses that then have to pass them on to us. Yeah, some of us like our health care options. But there's plenty of room for improvement - especially for the guy without them. Such improvements must at least include incentives for healthy lifestyles and preventive care.

As Thomas Sowell noted in his column (Herald, Aug. 25), the best health care in the world can't cure poor personal responsibility.

If you haven't noticed, Americans want their cake - but their cake is killing them.

However we approach it, let's stick to the facts and keep our heads. Then maybe we can get there without the lynch mobs.

* Dan Sisk is a manager at Hanford and lives with his wife and two sons in Richland. E-mail Sisk at danielsisk@ earthlink.net.

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