This Won't Help Costs

[stuy119]

Cancer costs could increase 66% by 2020 – The Chart - CNN.com Blogs

My guess is that rather than address the problems, the cost of health insurance will once again be blamed.

 

[somarco]

No problem.

Once the FDA pulls approval on Avastin, Provenge and a few other expensive drugs and CMS says they are no longer approved, we no longer have a problem.

Not covered by insurance or Medicare.

Problem solved.

 

[redkee]

The future of health care is"Soylent Green.

 

[AgentOrange]

Maybe, or maybe the General Public will be getting more preventitive care and the instances of people showing up to emergency rooms with stage four cancer will decline... just a thought.

 

[Full Throttle]

Question: Has there been a study performed showing preventive care actually reduces overall costs in the system? Honest question, I'm curious.

 

[djs]

It's really 2 different questions.... and I don't think there is a definitive study on either.

- Does someone getting treated earlier for something reduce their lifetime medical costs? I've seen conflicting reports on this. While early detection may reduce the cost of that particular event, the overall lifetime cost could be substantially higher. All depends. Nobody seems to really want to look at lifetime costs though.

- Does access to wellness care mean anyone will use it? I think the answer to this has been a resounding no, but I am guessing. Some do, a lot don't. If more used it, it would probably overwhelm the system.

- Then there is the question of will people respond to the results of the wellness tests? Again, probably not. Think about overweight people, do they suddenly lose weight? Do pre-diabetics suddenly change their diet? Do smokers suddenly stop smoking?

I think wellness care sounds really good, has the potential to be great, but the reality is far different from the dream.

Dan

 

[Full Throttle]

I think wellness care sounds really good, has the potential to be great, but the reality is far different from the dream.

I suspect that statement is right over a life time (and probably over the short term as well for the population at large), but it would be interesting to see a study on it. A health insurance cooperative I was reping in my area required a two year committment and mandatory wellness programs for participants if a group decided to participate. The Cooperative formed based on this premise: a benefit rich wellness/preventive care program will hold down costs. To date, it doesn't look like it it working compared to groups outside the cooperative.

 

[djs]

Problem is the study done would be skewed, probably heavily in favor of the benefits of wellness care, simply by the fact that those who would actually take the time to do the wellness visits AND followup with advice are the very same ones who take care of themselves.

The overweight, hypertensive, coach potato may go in for a doctors visit but won't go through with the wellness care stuff.

Trying to get past the statistical anomolies of the study will allow for so much data manipulation that the study will say whatever you want it to say. For instance, I googled this topic and read a report from a Chiropractor who said those who participate in his weekly 'maintanence' visits have 50% fewer doctors visits over people the same age that don't have the routine maintenance visits. I'm guessing he forgot they pay him for a weekly visit.....

Dan

 

[leevena]

Most doctors will tell you that a "physical" is acutally a waste of time, for most people. The amount of testing that would need to be done, on a preventative basis, would be far more expensive than treating the illness later.

There is some hope that genetics will do a much better job of identifying future risks/costs.

For now, one of the better strategies is to monitor gaps in medical care and making sure people stay compliant.

 

[somarco]

There have been numerous studies over time on the benefits of "wellness" care and the results are inconclusive.

Wellness and prevention probably would work except for one thing. Most people don't want to improve their health or change their lifestyle.