What’s the difference between Hospice Care and traditional Health Care?  Nothing.  Think about it.

The Providers:

Providers in either scenario are generally kind, have a great intention to help people in need, and genuinely care about the patient.

The Outcomes:

The outcome in either situation is to make you comfortable.  If you have terminal cancer, they want you to feel little to no pain, as you pass away gently.  If you have high blood pressure, hormone imbalance, chronic pain, behavioral issues, and immune system imbalances, you are given something to numb the symptoms as you continue down the course that got you in that situation.  The best possible outcome in either scenario is to numb you.

The Delivery System:

The quickest route to make sure you don’t feel anything is through medication.  In both scenarios, the patient is given a chemical intervention.  Why not alcohol?  Why not Mary Jane?  Wouldn’t they be cheaper?  Isn’t one of the biggest complaints about our health care system the cost?

The Results:

People die early with less symptoms.  You wouldn’t say someone in hospice care is healthy.  Why do you say someone on 5 medications is healthy?  Even the insurance company doesn’t think so.  They know to the penny how much more someone on medication is going to cost them in the long run and therefore raise premiums.  Why is it harder to get life insurance?  They know you will die sooner and therefore charge you a higher premium to be covered in case you die…early.

You and I can have the same cholesterol levels.  You take Lipitor to suppress it, I do it through lifestyle.  Who do you think pays more in insurance premiums for the exact same coverage?

With any system touted as health care, the primary outcome has to be health.  Less symptoms is not health.  With this being an election year, see if any candidate mentions this or do they just spout out a plan for ‘who is going to pay for it.’  Until we change the question from, ‘who is paying for this,’ to ‘what are we actually paying for,’ we’ll be in a chronic state of discouragement.

Policy change will be slow if it ever changes.  That leaves you to create health in yourself and family.  Choose wisely.