The Silent Disease That Is Crippling Us

There’s a word we all use when talking about health that is descriptive but may have strayed from its original meaning. The word is “disease.” Most people think of disease as a pathological illness. “He has a terrible skin disease,” or “she has advanced breast cancer.” These are pathological conditions. But the word can be parsed differently. The prefix “dis” means “not.” The word “ease” means “without difficulty.” Thus “disease” is a distinct lack of ease. Everyone can experience a lack of ease that is not pathological but is related to their health. A common example is stress. Excess stress will have a negative effect on a person’s best possible health outcome. You can read my book to explore this relationship in greater detail.

There is a specific source of disease that troubles me. This disease is the extreme stress caused by healthcare and insurance organizations based on how they charge patients for services. Extraordinarily high prices for services and drugs may not be covered by insurance. Even with very good insurance (which is expensive) there are instances where claims are simply denied. In either case, when the healthcare providers are not paid they look for payment from the patient. The patient is trapped between two organizations over which they have no control. Not everyone is capable of grappling with insurance companies and healthcare billing organizations. If the bill is small, the patient may just pay it, but the personal circumstances of patients vary and there are patients who simply cannot pay the bill. How bad is it? Only 45% of Americans have $1000 stashed away for emergencies. If the bill is bigger, or the patient has no emergency funds, they may have trouble paying rent, buying groceries, or even continuing with medical treatment if the condition is chronic. The healthcare provider may send the bill to a collection agency, at which point the patient is under regular assault from heavy handed debt collectors. In fact, medical debt is the single biggest cause of personal bankruptcy. One can only imagine the amount of stress this causes, and that is the threat that works against the patient achieving their best possible health outcome.

It's ironic that so many pathological diseases can be treated or cured, and yet the very same people who provide these services have given you a new disease. They are the cause of this disease. They are singularly responsible for this disease. It’s the one disease that they can wipe out completely in every case, and yet it goes untreated. There are so many brilliant medical researchers and practitioners who drive healthcare forward (and are well funded), but the business practices of their organizations are stuck in the dark ages.   

I’ve gotten a taste of this in my own experience. The doctors who treat me work for a large, prestigious medical center and are generally unaware of how billing works. I’ve begun to explain this to them and they’re often shocked or horrified. I gently remind them that it’s their job to advocate for their patients. It’s horrible to do this because I really want those doctors to excel and they shouldn’t have to be distracted by business problems, but this is where we are. Where are the business innovators? I wish I had an answer for that.