Last week, I went to see my physician for my annual physical. For me, this is usually a non-event; my physician spends five minutes doing a physical exam, then quickly goes over my blood work and medications. She crams physicals into her normal busy day and must hurry due to her many patients. I schedule my yearly exam in the early morning because an afternoon appointment is more likely to be delayed from various issues that arise in her office.
This year, my physician switched to MDVIP, a personalized primary care membership company that reduces her number of patients to around 600 compared to her normal +2,000 patient load. What changed? First, her focus is on preventive care. Two weeks before my annual exam, I was given a series of tests: cognitive, visual, body composition, grip strength, lung capacity, and heart EKG. In addition to the normal blood tests, additional indicative blood tests were performed on my heart, liver, kidney, and other vital organs.
After the physical exam, my doctor sat with me for an hour going through the test results and we developed a “health plan,” based on the test results and my doctor’s guidance. I am now taking additional over-the-counter supplements, increasing my protein intake, building more leg muscle mass, and going off my low dosage blood pressure medicine. She ordered a precautionary liver image because one of my new blood tests was slightly abnormal.
Second, if I need to see her, I can usually get a same-day appointment or if not, the next day. When I called last summer with questions about my heart, I received a call back in three hours. My doctor even called my cardiologist to give him a summary of our conversation. Third, my doctor gave her patients an after-hours phone number if there is an urgent need to speak with her. And fourth, when I travel, my doctor will refer me to other MDVIP physicians within the United States if I can’t return to Austin for treatment.
While this sounds like health care heaven, it comes with a fee. Each physician has their own membership fee structure, but at a minimum, yearly fees will be at least several thousands of dollars per patient. The extra fees allow primary care physicians to reduce the number of their patients and provide additional testing. Sadly, most Americans cannot afford the membership fees and even if all have the necessary financial resources, there are not enough US primary care doctors to reduce the patients per physician ratio down to 600.
The United States has the world’s best medical care: physicians, nurses, technicians, technology, hospitals, research, and medications. Those who have the financial means receive the best medical care in the world. However, the average American has difficulty affording this superb medical care since the average American spends twice as much for health care as the next highest spending country. This large difference is due to the inefficient US siloed health care system, expensive private health insurance, higher cost non-governmental regulated prescriptions, and capped medical school enrollments that reduce physician supply. Each one of these parts of health care would take reams of paper to explain, but they are the main reasons that health care inflation exceeds the CPI.
The current focus of health care is to repair or cure human bodies that have medical issues rather than focus on preventative care. A 2023 NYT best seller publication, Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity (Dr. Peter Attia, Harmony, NY), seeks to flip health care by focusing on keeping people healthy longer through early testing and proactive lifestyle changes. The downside of Dr. Attia is, once again, high costs. He now has only 75 patients (and a long waiting list) in my hometown of Austin and charges more than $100,000 per person. The question, for which I don’t have an answer, is: if the United States decided to steer the health care system towards preventative care, would future medical costs reduce over time to balance the steep initial expenses? Right now, only those who are able to afford the higher fees can be assessed.
What does this have to do with the Christian faith? First, Christ healed the sick. The health care in the first-century Roman world was primitive, at best. Yet, Christ had compassion for the sick and used his gifts to heal. Our Christian calling is to be followers of Christ. This means demanding that all Americans have basic medical care. Second, health care should not be politicized. It is not a left or right issue; it is a humanity issue. Americans should demand cost-efficient medical care, including effective preventive care. We have the scientific knowledge and medical infrastructure; it just needs to be streamlined with the focus on early preventive care. There will always be the need to cure and repair human bodies, but it is much better to lower the odds of serious illnesses.
In Colossians 4:14, the Apostle Paul mentions Luke, “the beloved physician.” While scholars are unsure that the author of the Gospel of Luke was this same physician that Paul cited, it does correspond to Luke’s parable about the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29–37). A lawyer was testing Jesus and asked: “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus responded with the story of the Samaritan who stopped and treated a stranger beaten and left to die. Luke highlights his concerns for all of humanity and tells of proactive healing. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to do likewise.
