Health Care Services in the 1990s: A Consumer's Guide Book

(4 1/2)

I was half-expecting a new age, feel-good apologist manifesto for Obamacare, but that is not at all what this is. Dr. Weil does a decent and logical job explaining what he finds to be the problems with our healthcare system today and doesn't bastardize us as a country, comparing us to the "superior" healthcare systems of other countries. However, neither does he repeatedly toot our own horns about our technological advances in medicine. He explains how other countries' systems will collapse, too, and for the same reasons. He's realistic; he's practical; he cares; he makes sense.

He says exactly what I've thought the problem was but adds another factor (and rightly so!) to the equation. Insurance companies are killing us with their profit-driven structures. Prices were never so high before insurance came along. (BTW, this is the Libertarian Party's platform, too). Dr. Weil then heavily and mercilessly criticizes Big Pharma and reveals some of the most startling statistics I've read about where they spend their money. Hint: It's not R&D. I'll admit that reading about the cold and inhumane way they operate, without regard to human life, made me tear up. Insurance companies (Aetna, I hate you) + Big Pharma = people who struggle their entire lives to keep up with unnecessary medical bills. This is just senseless.

He calls for practical solutions to healthcare, all involving some form of "Integrated Medicine." I love this. It appeals to the individual in me, forcing people to take some sort of responsibility for their own health. It appeals to the collective in me, knowing that no one will have to take control of one's health alone; one receives guidance, help, and support. I like the idea of Integrated Medicine a lot - stress management, healthy eating, and physical activity should always, always, always be a part of health. We should never rely on a pill to swallow and be done with it.

His ideas would save our citizens money and most importantly shift the focus from "Disease Management" (and let's face it, that's what healthcare is right now) to "Disease Prevention and Health Promotion." This book will leave you optimistic about taking care of yourself and with a bigger picture of how healthcare should ideally work. Four and a half stars.