Mississippi Valley Health Magazine
Winter 2009
The financial crisis is touching all aspects of our economy including household budgets here in the Quad Cities – and health care is no exception. Here at the Mississippi Valley Surgery Center and Mississippi Valley Health Network, we are proud of our physicians’ efforts to keep health care costs down: our training emphasizes minimally invasive procedures that promote faster healing; and our Surgery Center’s outpatient services can help you avoid expensive hospitalization.
We know unexpected medical costs can put an enormous strain on families, and as costs and insurance deductibles and premiums increase, it’s a concern nationwide. Mike Leavitt, head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said recently that “If we had any idea how many mortgages were foreclosed because people were crowded out by medical issues … Health-care costs are at the heart of many of the things happening.”
A Kaiser Family Foundation poll conducted in April, way ahead of the current economic meltdown, found that 28% of Americans reported that they or their families had had a serious problem paying health insurance or medical bills because of changes in the economy.
Waiting for the unexpected cost of illness or injury to strike is not a plan.
There is a primer in this edition that will help you to understand your health insurance, but it only gets you started. You need to review your insurance contract and learn about its parts from your employer, insurance agent, or insurance company representatives. Know what your out-of-pocket expenses could be for a year and budget for the year as you do for other living expenses. Many health care providers including the Mississippi Valley Surgery Center offer discounts if you can pay your obligations early in your care because it costs them less in bill collection processes. Providers can’t offer that discount if payment gets drawn out. If you plan appropriately, you can take advantage of these discounts.
There are many choices you and your family can make to help control health care expenses, but they involve lifestyle changes not always easy to make. Screening examinations (such as colon cancer screenings featured on page 9) are recommended to discover disease when it is more easily and cost-effectively treated. Proper diet, smoking cessation, exercise, stress reduction, and safe behaviors can also keep you healthy and keep your healthcare dollars in the bank. The key is to remain educated and know you have the power to make positive health care choices – because what we don’t know could ultimately cost us.
—Dr. John Dooley, Publisher
