Knowing the difference between healthcare and medical care...

July 15, 2022

...is a matter of life OR death. Confusing health care with medical care can be a fatal mistake in any analysis of life expectancy. This analysis gets the data right but doesn't understand the difference between the two wholly different types of personal care.

All those trillions of expenditures on (hopefully) restorative "medical care," from doctors to drugs to CAT scans, x-rays and other medical equipment, can't buy you "health" nor can it be considered "health care." It's like measuring all the money spent on automotive collision repair then wondering why cars don't last longer. It's a simple matter of an ounce of prevention versus a pound (or a ton) of cure, something we all heard well before it became a good summary of "healthcare" today.

People who don't take care of their health, i.e., they fail to eat right, they fail to exercise, they abuse drugs, they binge-drink alcohol, these people are not going to live as long as those who abstain from these poor choices. Medical care can't correct or cure a life of excess and bad behavior. No government "healthcare'" i.e., medical care, program can 'fix stupid.' It is not a shorter life expectancy created by racism, genetics, or poverty. While these can have an impact on life expectancy, they are of negligible consequence when compared to "bad" behavior. Demographics and DNA are NOT destiny.

The concept of Covid having "harvested" the vulnerable is one important lesson to be gleaned from the data on co-morbidities as well as the calculation of "excess deaths" in deciding the impact of this or any other virus on life expectancy. The typical American who with Covid was an overweight, unhealthy person over the age of eighty, meaning that the person had already outlived his or her life expectancy.

And if you dig deeper into the data, there is some evidence to suggest that 'diversity' is deadly, based on its relationship to crime, less educated people making poorer choices, single-parent households, drug abuse and other forms of conflict that arise in a more 'diverse' world.

Bottom line: Good habits, clean living, prayer and moderation are the best insurance for a longer life, as well as a life worth living longer.

This comment, from Maggie's Farm, summarizes what this blog has said repeatedly.

There is a difference between MEDICAL CARE and HEALTH CARE. HEALTH is YOUR responsibility and the knowledge is well within the individuals wheelhouse. MEDICAL CARE typically takes a great deal of education and training. It's the reason the medical profession developed. In terms of health, the USA ranks low for a variety of reasons: We have a population with a significant number of people - blacks and hispanics (of Indian descent - feather, not dot) - who are genetically prone to diabetes and other chronic diseases. We also have a significant illicit drug problem. In terms of medical care, we are second to none - which is why rich people from all over the world come to the USA for serious medical problems. "Healthcare" is a political term created by Democrat politicians for the purpose of using taxpayer dollars to pay for routine things like birth control, school breakfast programs, school nurses, etc. People get confused and think doctors should be trained to maintain people's health. But virtually everyone not living under a rock knows 99% of what they need to do for health: eat right, exercise, don't smoke. They just don't do it and having a doctor tell you these things has been shown to have ZERO effect. What we do want from the medical profession is people who have great expertise at diagnosing and fixing the things we cannot prevent as well as the things we are unwilling to prevent. Having them become jacks of all trades makes them less masterful at what they do.

Bottom line: Healthcare is YOUR responsibility and there is no natural right to medical care. Medical care is a privilege of a wealthy society, not a free good. And it is a hopeless task to think that any government, state or society can (afford to) provide medical care that is high quality, accessible to all, and affordable. Not all three. It's much like the business adage about wanting to have a product or service "fast, inexpensive, and high quality."

Let me close with a tangential reference to the importance and pervasiveness of this three-factor approach. To repeat a traditional admonition that I would often give my students near the end of my management and leadership courses, a "good" career is one that (1) you enjoy, (2) you do well, and (3) pays your bills. American college students have the opportunity -- and the responsibility -- to find something that does all three, if they want to have a 'successful career.' For billions of people, the effective pursuit of these three objectives is often simply not possible.