When It Comes to Policymaking....

Since the beginning of the United States healthcare system, the energy of physicians, nurses and other health professionals has been put into the curing/treatment of disease.  For the most part, it has revolved around the patient experiencing symptoms, the physician making a diagnosis and then continuing with a course of treatment.  Even though there is an abundant amount of time spent researching prevention of illness, this knowledge is not always put to the most effective use.

Yet, it is hard to say that our healthcare system is doing something wrong by spending only 5% of the money on prevention.  If we didn't spend as much as we do on treatment then so many lives would have been lost and our life expectancy as a country would seriously decline.  At least in the near future, it does not seem feasible for our system to begin cutting costs on treatment and placing more on prevention.  This is because preventive efforts will be lost on a population that is unwilling to change their behaviors.  I think the mentality of our country needs to become one of health rather than convenience before moving forward with cutting costs on treatment.

The focus of our policymakers needs to be on making early education of healthy lifestyles mandatory in schools.  There needs to be education given to expecting parents, about adult and child nutrition.  There also needs to be a large focus on removing the so many unhealthy vendors and food choices that exist around the country.  

Overall, I think our money spent at the present time is allotted correctly.  In the future it will probably have to change, but for now, it would be extremely wasteful.