Editorial: Cutting Health Care Costs
How much do Americans like chicken wings? Or cheeseburgers? Or
pork chops? Enough to lose their jobs? At Ford Motor Company, that’s
exactly the question workers should be asking themselves. Earlier
this year, Ford announced massive layoffs. More than 30,000 North
American Ford employees will be out of work.
One major factor: health care costs. Skyrocketing doctor bills,
hospital bills, and prescription drug costs have driven up the
sticker prices on Ford’s
cars and trucks. The same problem is also hurting the bottom line
at GM, Chrysler, and other American manufacturers.
Stop by any
U.S. factory and you’ll see why. We are one out-of-shape
country. One-third of Americans are now moderately overweight,
and another third are obese. Every pound a worker gains pushes
his or her cholesterol up about one point. Twenty pounds, 20 points.
Fifty pounds, 50 points.
If American manufacturing aims to compete,
it must regain its edge. And vegetarian diets could do the
trick. |
To counteract the cholesterol-raising
effect of chicken wings and chili dogs, we take Lipitor. One tablet
costs about three dollars. A year’s supply
runs more than $1,000. Our national ponderousness has also brought
unprecedented epidemics of diabetes and high blood pressure, which
demand more drugs–two
or three for diabetes, another two, three, or even four for hypertension.
Ordinary Americans now spend a fortune on legal drugs, doctor visits,
and tests.
It’s time to wake up and smell the crisis.
If American manufacturing aims to compete, it must regain its edge.
And vegetarian diets could do the trick.
An economic analysis by
my research team, published in Preventive Medicine more
than 10 years ago, predicted the effects of eating habits on health
care costs. At that time, meaty diets were responsible for more
than $60 billion in health care expenditures every year. Today’s
figures would likely be double that number.
Many Americans are
already breaking the meat habit to cut their cholesterol, lose
weight, or build their stamina. An average meat-eater can trim
20 pounds or more by switching to a plant-based diet. Detailed
medical studies have shown that, like nonsmokers, people who skip
the meat course require fewer doctor visits, fewer operations,
and fewer prescriptions.
If workers and managers pull together
and resolve to get healthy, we’ll
make our industries more competitive. In the process, we’ll
also revolutionize the health of this country.
Neal D. Barnard, M.D.
President of PCRM
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