Last few years have been quite sobering. Our realities of life is changing in a very fast pace. On September of 2001, we as a nation realized that we are not as safe as we once thought we were. On September of 2008 we witnessed the melt down of our financial system. We learned that our financial security is no longer a given. Now, we are at the brink of yet another crisis, the healthcare.
Our healthcare cost has been rising at a significantly faster pace than our income. Over the past decade, the annual cost of healthcare coverage has risen 131%, according to Kaiser Permanente. Many economists believe that increases to the employer portion of healthcare costs have and will continue to reduce workers' wages over time.
Has your household income more than doubled in the last 10 years? According to U.S. census Bureau Median Household Income of American has increased from $38,771 in 1967 to $50,233 in 2007. That is less than 30% over the last 40 years and less than 7% over the last decade (as opposed to 131%). This imparity in growth rate between healthcare cost and Average American Income can not go on indefinitely.
Our world is changing and we must evolve to maintain our standard of living. The yellow brick road is getting fuzzy. How can we break this cycle? Is there any minor adjustment we can make to change the inevitable? I believe there is. We have to become more efficient and proactive. We must resist our natural tendency to postponed, delay, and avoid the unpleasant tasks. We must place a much higher emphasis on living healthier and preventive healthcare in order to avoid future costly and far less pleasant treatments. We need to switch from sick care to health care.
We need to prevent predictable health problems, to protect existing state of health and healthy functioning. When my patients tell me that they can't afford routine check up because money or time is tight, I reply "you can't afford not to do your preventive care, because money or time is tight". The word “Prevention” comes from Latin, meaning “to come before”. It evolved from a core definition “to anticipate”, “to take precautions against and hence to evade danger”.
There are things that we have little or no control over. We can’t eradicate corporate and financial sector greed. There is little we can do to keep our politicians immune from playing politics with our future and resources. There is however a few things that we have control over.
Together we can control the rising cost of “sick care” by being proactive and get serious about practicing “Preventive health and oral care”. Together we can be more “green” conscious. We can be more energy and fuel conscious. Our collective nationwide minor modifications can produce amazing results. We can once again remind the world what is so special about being American. Historically, when the chips were down, we have always delivered. We did it during industrial revolution. We did it during the nightmare of World War I and II and battle of Normandy. We can do it again against current global crisis as the leader of the free world.
In all my years of practicing Restorative, surgical, and rehabilitative dentistry, one pattern has always been consistent. Those patients of mine that have adapted routine preventive check up and maintenance habits that is recommended by American Dental Association (I call them my A list patients) need far less major, often unpleasant and expensive corrective procedures than the “I go to the doctor when something goes wrong” group. I hereby offer all of my patients a great incentive in order to encourage them to join our A list. I guarantee all of my major dental work, including dental implants 100%, for as long as (no expiration date) they remain an active patient on our A List, (even if the damage is caused by accident). I hope that my colleagues adapt a similar policy. We all need to do our share to promote and reward wellness through prevention as opposed to sickness in our community.
For more information about my “No expiration date, 100% warranty” policy and how to join our A List, please call my office at www.drnoie.com and ask to speak to Elga.