This morning I read a story on line from USA Today. As much of the news these days, the article discussed our health care system. In this story, several respected medical groups expressed the need to prevent chronic disease conditions as treating them costs billions of dollars.
The reporter gave an example of a person with chronic disease conditions, named the man and quoted one of his physicians. This person has had four kidney transplants and is 54 years old. His kidney’s failed for different reasons, and not all were related to his choices.
Still, did you know that your kidneys could fail because of high blood pressure? Would you ever expect that to happen when you were in your forties? The gentleman’s physician said that he had really wished the man had stopped smoking. The man who was given kidneys from strangers and from his wife, continued to smoke from his early 20s until just recently.
Some experts in the article discussed the need for insurance companies to pay for quit smoking classes. The patient here has quit and is saving his five dollars a day. He stated that people should quit smoking and use the money for quitting as that is cheaper than the smokes.
Actually, no one has to pay to quit smoking. Most states have their own telephone quitline, but if not, there is a national quit line. My state, Florida, has free quit smoking classes throughout our 67 counties. Medicines sometimes cost, but not always. Insurance does pay for some meds and it also reimburses clinicians for addressing tobacco use during an office visit.
The person in this story is very likely on disability income and Medicare or Medicaid (some people get both). If I ruled the world, people who wanted expensive treatments to stay alive would have to stop killing themselves first. And I applaud the surgeons who will not operate on active smokers.
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