Sunday, June 15, 2003

Some Thoughts about Holistic Health and the Berlin Wall Health insurance costs have been increasing by double-digits for three years running. This can be traced directly back to the cost of providing Western medical procedures, which are often compared to using a sledgehammer to kill a bug. Sledgehammers cost a lot if that's all you use. Fewer employers are paying 100% of their employee's health insurance premiums. More employees are rejecting health insurance through their employers, especially with young workers (NOTE: Link requires free registration). Fewer people can be classified as "employees" and more people are self-employed, independent contractors, etc. who can make their own decisions about healthcare. Doctors have been going on strike to protest the level of malpractice insurance premiums, which often exceed $200,000 per year. American doctor strikes have been quite rare until now. What is very interesting is that death rates tend to drop during doctor strikes! Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs) are being used extensively by people who want more flexibility in spending their healthcare dollars, but still want the pre-tax benefits. Wellness Savings Accounts (WSAs) are not yet reality, but once passed through Congress will provide a much greatly flexibility in the types of medical services that can be paid for using pre-tax savings. Patient dissatisfaction with Western medicine is peaking. Holistic health spending exceeds the out-of-pocket expenses that people pay for Western medicine. Washington state passed a law in 1996 that states that a wide variety of holistic health services must be covered by every insurance company. The major topic among Democratic presidential candidates is how to pay for the enormous burden of Western medical care. Europe and Asia are far advanced beyond the U.S. in their incorporation of holistic health services into the mainstream. America has the most expensive healthcare but its population is not the healthiest. The cost of health insurance has caused a large percentage of Americans to go without it. Can you hear the Berlin Wall of Western Medicine crashing down? [The Holistic Health Phreak] More good sense 9:05:16 PM    comment []

Big Guys Versus the Little Guys It has been interesting for me changing my focus from large business consulting to holistic health, because these types of business are all small. I guess there are some large vitamin companies and some of the big hospital chains are dabbling in holistic health practices, but mostly it is one person businesses doing massage therapy, acupuncture, yoga instruction or whatever. Some of the people I've talked to have expressed some fear about the ability of holistic health to make inroads given the huge presence of established Western medical institutions (hospitals, clinics, insurance companies, pharmaceuticals, government regulations, etc.). Maybe I'm just a Pollyanna optimist, but to me it looks like no problem at all. Again, having come from the inside of large corporations and government departments, I can personally vouch that it takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r to get anything done inside a big organization. Large companies (and government more so) are mostly about power struggles, turf battles, politics, office romances and smoke breaks. When we visualize big companies, we tend to think of those hard-driving, steely-eyed people at the top. And, indeed, those people are very intimidating. Only trouble is, they can't do much. Because directly below them in the hierarchy are people who are primarily concerned with a) how do I keep from losing this job, b) what does the boss want me to say and c) how can I get back at the person who dissed me last week. The ambitions of the corporation in the marketplace are not even on the list of concerns for 99% of the people in the organization. Contrast this to the one, two or five person operation. It is possible to get everyone in a room and discuss what we need to do right now. What we want to grow towards. What our philosophy is towards our customers. It is almost effortless to manage something this small. But does it get done? Often, it does not, but that fact that it is so much easier to do makes these legions of small, holistic health service organizations much more powerful than any behemoth corporations or government agency. It's not even a contest. [The Holistic Health Phreak] How true!!!!! 9:00:59 PM    comment []