The concerns over soaring health care costs has led to intense examination of factors that influence consumer health choices and use of the health care system. From the employer perspective, a good part of what we see and hear is focused on health plan design. Most everyone agrees that rich health benefit plans of the past with low employee premium contributions, low co-pays and deductibles and unlimited access to health care services contributed to skyrocketing health care costs.
Impact on the company bottom line has led employers to consider other options in providing health benefits. One of the latest attempts to raise consumer awareness about health cost is consumer-driven health care (CDHC). While there are many definitions of this model of health care delivery, CDHC generally refers to health plans that are designed to increase employees’ financial stake in their own health care by shifting more costs from employers to employees.
These include high-deductible plans in which employees have personal health savings accounts (HSAs) from which they pay medical expense directly. The overall belief is that because employees have control of the savings fund, they’ll be more aware of the actual costs, more selective in seeking medical care and thus pay less in the long run when they are spending their own money.
While these plans are growing in popularity, many agree that it is too early to tell what impact they will have on rising health costs. Among other factors, skeptics argue that 80 percent of all health spending is the result of chronic conditions and costly hospitalizations. People with chronic conditions who consume more health care are less likely to opt for high-deductible plans. Certainly, health plan design will influence consumer awareness of health cost, but what other forces are driving consumer health choices?
Consumer beware
Consumer purchasing decisions indicate that Americans are monumentally influenced by messages though mass media, television and Internet marketing. How do these messages impact health choices? When eating well, losing weight, getting regular exercise and managing stress require too much time and commitment, people turn to easier options.
Who has better capitalized on this consumer weakness than the food and pharmaceutical industries? Witness the massive growth in the use of the cholesterol-lowering Statin drugs. Over the last 20 years, the pharmaceutical industry has built a promotional campaign that turned the Statins into one of the bestselling pharmaceuticals of all time.
Scientists, advertising agencies, the media and the medical profession have joined the crusade that has resulted in 16 million Americans taking Lipitor, and drug company officials claim that 36 million Americans are candidates for Statin therapy. A one-year course of Statins costs between $900 and $1,400, earning $12.5 billion dollars in revenue for the pharmaceutical industry. The never-ending television ads imply that cholesterol-lowering is for everyone. As doctors are encouraged to lower cholesterol levels in their patients by greater and greater amounts, the cost of therapy is not the only concern. Statins may effectively lower cholesterol but growing numbers of people are reporting side effects that include muscle pain and weakness, most likely due to the depletion of CoQ10, a nutrient that supports muscle function. The public has been led to believe that any and all cholesterol is bad, when in fact it is an important component in repairing and protecting the body.
Other choices
From a population-based approach, Statin drug therapy may seem to be the answer for the many Americans who are unable or unwilling to lower their cholesterol through diet, weight control and exercise. However, for most, simple changes in diet and lifestyle can achieve the same effect without also cutting off the body’s vital supply of cholesterol.
Avoid trans fats, known to contribute to inflammation. Recent research indicates that inflammation in the blood vessels in the heart may contribute to the buildup of plaque in the walls of the arteries.
Avoid refined sugars. These include white sugar, corn syrup, sucrose and especially fructose, known to stimulate clumping of the blood platelets.
When eating saturated fats such as meat, milk, butter and cheese, consider sources from grass-fed beef. Fat from grass-fed cattle, rather than factory-raised beef, is higher in the important Omega 3 fats missing in our diets.
Take cod liver oil (lemon flavored is available), an excellent dietary source of anti-inflammatory vitamin A, vitamin D and Omega 3.
Avoid powdered milk products (such as powdered whey), as they contain oxidized cholesterol, shown to cause irritation of the artery wall.
Eat eggs from free-range poultry. Unfortunately, the egg got a bad rap in the cholesterol story. The egg is an excellent source of protein, and high in Lutein, which boosts eye health, and prevents cataracts and macular degeneration.
Don’t be fooled by “nutrient fortified” labels. Adding Omega 3 fats to already sugary cereals doesn’t make them a good choice.
Increase your exercise. The benefit of exercise to heart health is undisputed and is known to raise HDL, the good cholesterol that protects your heart.
