Another Big Expense My Family Doesn't Need
In the last post, you learned that the British have adopted optimal medical therapy (OMT) for heart artery disease very broadly. They don’t do nearly as many heart artery bypasses and stents, expensive tests, and cardiology referrals. Their system is cheaper and more effective. At a national level, fifty percent more Americans are dead one year after a heart attack. That is one quarter of a million friends and neighbors who died before their time.
It’s not just that more people died and become disabled in the US. Opening arteries is very expensive, and it does not keep you from dying or having a heart attack. Stents and bypasses are much more expensive in this country than they are in Europe. In the US, a bypass costs about $60,000 while the same procedure in Europe is about $14,000. A stent in America is $20,000. In Europe, it is $12,000. We do a lot more stents and bypasses in the US and they are much more expensive. If you have a heart attack, it is four times as expensive in this country as it is in Europe.
This excessive cost hits every family in America. Most heart attack victims are older and on Medicare. Your taxes support the Medicare system. Many of you have parents who are at risk. These very high costs occur because we have not translated the new science and systems. We did the research, and the Europeans reaped the benefit. We spend twice as much on health care as the Europeans, and they live longer.
Medical science and systems have advanced just as much as communications technology. Not too long ago, our family changed from cable to a streaming service for our TV. We pay half as much for much more reliable service and unlimited recording. Now we can watch what we want to watch when we want to watch it. The same thing can happen in medicine, but will be a lot harder. You cannot just discontinue the cable and switch to streaming. Medical care in most communities is controlled by one or two huge hospital systems. These hospital systems are conflicted. Bypasses, stents, and other expensive items support them and they have no interest in moving to OMT. Talk you your employer. Talk to your community leader. Talk to your politicians. Until you do, too many Americans will die, and it will cost too much. The benefits of OMT have been proven. It is time to change. We can have better health at lower costs now, but you must demand it.