You Get What You Pay For...Except When You Don't!

Over the years I have found that many times the familiar saying, "you get what you pay for," holds true. Just the other day I had a conversation with some of the guys I play baseball with concerning the differences between baseball gloves. One of my friends asked about the difference between a glove that costs $60.00 and one that costs $160.00. They answer...night and day! In my experience with baseball gloves quality does equate with cost. 

How about health care? Do we get what we are paying for? I would say the answer is a resounding no! In the U.S. we spend more (way more) on health care than any other nation. In 2012 we spent an average of $8,233.00 per every single person. The only nation that even comes close to this figure is Norway, which spends roughly $5,388 annually per person on medical expenditures, or roughly 65 percent of what the U.S. spends. Put another way, 17 cents of every single dollar spent in the U.S. is spent on health care while 16 cents of every U.S. dollar is spent on food, clothing and fuel...combined! 

Sure we spend more but we have the best health care system in the world, right? 

U.S. Health in International Perspective:

Shorter Lives, Poorer Health

"The United States is among the wealthiest nations in the world, but it is far from the healthiest. Although life expectancy and survival rates in the United States have improved dramatically over the past century, Americans live shorter lives and experience more injuries and illnesses than people in other high-income countries. The U.S. health disadvantage cannot be attributed solely to the adverse health status of racial or ethnic minorities or poor people: even highly advantaged Americans are in worse health than their counterparts in other, "peer" countries.

In light of the new and growing evidence about the U.S. health disadvantage, the National Institutes of Health asked the National Research Council (NRC) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to convene a panel of experts to study the issue. The Panel on Understanding Cross-National Health Differences Among High-Income Countries examined whether the U.S. health disadvantage exists across the life span, considered potential explanations, and assessed the larger implications of the findings.

U.S. Health in International Perspective presents detailed evidence on the issue, explores the possible explanations for the shorter and less healthy lives of Americans than those of people in comparable countries, and recommends actions by both government and nongovernment agencies and organizations to address the U.S. health disadvantage."

What is the answer? I believe we need to think differently and ask better questions! 

“Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.” Albert Einstein

Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Here are a few video clips to get you thinking and maybe asking better questions:

How Would Now Be a Good Time?

No time like the present

Tony Robbins has said on many occasions, "How would now be a good time?" I decided to apply this quote today. I have been putting off starting a blog for a long time for fear of failure. Then I remembered, the only failure is not doing, not taking a chance, not putting myself out there.  This is my very first blog post with my husband at my side; helping me to navigate all the buttons and tabs associated with web pages, blogs, and the internet. I must admit it is daunting. I have been talking for some time about the disconnect in the "health care" system and health.  There needs to be a massive paradigm shift.

Health is so much more than the absence of disease and health never came from a pill. Over time we have been hypnotized into believing we don't have to be accountable for our decisions. Turn on the t.v. or listen to the radio, pull open any magazine and there are ads to tell us how to circumvent the symptoms we have created by our life style choices. If you have a pain, symptom or feeling you don't like - there's a pill for that. We are a society that wants to do what we want to do when we want to do it - without consequence. I ask you - how's that working for you?

  True health comes from balancing three major areas in our lives: structural, chemical and mental/emotional/spiritual. When these are in balance, we experience a sense of well-being and when they are out of balance, we express "dis-ease". This dis-ease can take many different forms. Manifestation of this lack of balance can range from a kink in the neck to an upset stomach, to a sense of overwhelm, etc.

Over the next several weeks, I plan to write briefly on topics that can improve your overall health. I look forward to your comments and questions.