Health Insurance and Preventive Care
If everyone is insured and has easy access to healthcare, we will have less national health expenses and we will be able to prevent illness. One of our problems today is that health insurance is tied to being employed. If you lose your job, you also lose your health insurance. Families are often trapped without a job and without health insurance. Having health covered regardless of employment makes sure people can get the care they need when they need it. Much of our health care expenses are because we wait too long and when we finally do show up for care, the problem is more problematic and more costly to treat. Training more doctors to provide care earlier in the disease process helps reduce costs for healthcare and provides for overall general health.
End of Life Care
By providing preventative health care to everybody at low cost, or at no cost, we reduce strain on taxpayers and ensure a healthier population. Much of our healthcare expenditures occur in the last week or two of life. A night in the intensive care unit on a breathing machine can cost as much as $11,000. This is typically when a terminal illness lands a loved one in the intensive care unit. Because the illness cannot be treated and the loved one is on life support, often the family is asked to make a difficult decision of withdrawing support. This decision is a difficult one and takes time. I have seen patient families struggle with this decision while the loved one is on a breathing machine for weeks. The hospital stay can then cost $150,000 or more. The hospital bill can bankrupt a family. One solution is to have decisions made much before that time arrives with an advanced directive.