Healthcare and Behavior

The topic of healthcare costs is so large that it takes many short essays to even scratch the surface.  On Monday, April 16, 2012, I listed 8 categories – reasons for higher healthcare costs that should be addressed to solve the problem.  These were explained further on that date and at other times including on the following Friday, April 20.  I did, however, leave out one very important point, that a major influence on healthcare costs is how well we take care of ourselves – yes, individual behavior.

This was reinforced as I read in the past few days articles about:  13,000 newborns needing additional hospitalization because they are born addicted to painkillers; more teens requiring drugs for obesity-related diabetes; and almost half the people treated in emergency rooms being under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Remember, I have argued on several other occasions that the solutions to our problems, our ability to overcome the so-called crises challenging our society, come not from big government programs or from punishing the big, evil corporations, but from adopting more positive behavior in one or more of the five key dimensions.  Applying this same approach to the problem of rising healthcare costs we see that improved behavior in responsibility and discipline goes a long way toward solving it.  Take responsibility for our health and then do something about it. 

Remember back on August 5, 2011, I pointed out that all legitimate health advice we receive from the media can be reduced to a few basic habits, but we see them over and over presented as “news.”  Likewise reports about preventing or lessening the impact of many diseases include the same advice:  eat right, stay active, get enough rest, quit smoking, drink alcohol in moderation, avoid soft drinks and snack food, etc.  It’s not rocket science.  By taking individual responsibility, we improve our own health, reducing overall healthcare spending.  And reducing the demand for anything usually has a favorable effect on price.

Another recent article about more people walking shows that we are off to a good start. We can do it and don’t have to wait for any new programs or laws.