For years we have been told to get an annual physical. Catch diseases early, we were urged. It could save your life!
Now, with universal health care, the message has changed to, “wait until you have symptoms,” as the yearly check up is denigrated as just a “ritual.” From the Kaiser Health News story:
“I would argue that we should move forward with the elimination of the annual physical,” says Dr. Ateev Mehrotra, a primary care physician and a professor of health policy at Harvard Medical School.
Mehrotra says patients should really only go to the doctor if something is wrong, or if it’s time to have an important preventive test like a colonoscopy….
The Society for General Internal Medicine even put annual physicals on a list of things doctors should avoid for healthy adults. One problem, Mehrotra says, is the cost. Each visit usually costs insurers just $150, but that adds up fast.“We estimate that it’s about $10 billion a year, which is more than how much we spend as a society on breast cancer care,” Mehrotra says. “It’s all a lot of money.”
And then there’s the risk that a doctor will run a test and find a problem that’s not actually there. It’s called a false positive, and it can lead to a cascade of follow-up tests that can be expensive and could even cause real harm. Dr. Michael Rothberg is another primary care physician and a health researcher at the Cleveland Clinic. He generally avoids giving physicals.
They aren’t looking out for us as individuals, it seems to me, but the “system.”
I get an annual physical, and I will continue to do so even if I have to pay for it myself. It not only allows me to make sure my health is good, but keeps me in a good relationship with my doctor. That used to mean something before the technocracy took over.
Moreover, there is no question that annual physicals save lives. I have close friends/family who had very serious conditions discovered before any symptoms appeared through routine blood and urine tests that were part of their annual physicals–including colon cancer, diabetes, prostate cancer, and breast cancer. I shudder to think what would have happened if they had waited until they were symptomatic to go to the doctor.
Isn’t it interesting that the switch against regular physicals and some testing has reached high gear with the passage of Obamacare?
In that regard, one of the big selling points of Obamacare was its legal requirement that health insurance companies cover an annual physical free of any charge to the patient.
I’ll believe this when President Obama announces he and the First Lady will forgo their annual physicals because it does no good. Let’s see some leadership by example.
If the evidence shows that monitoring our health in this way causes more harm than good, or if it fails cost/benefit muster, why hasn’t the government moved to change the law?
I know. Dumb question. Once a free gift is given by government, it will never be taken back.
#wearejustcogsinthewheel