Category: Village Green News

This is part 2 of a series of blog posts by Marc Isaacson, CEO/President of Village Green Apothecary, who is deeply concerned about including prevention and healthy living in our country’s plan for healthcare reform.

Clearly the healthcare system is broken. The big challenge is that the current system is designed around treating symptoms and patients with a “one size fits all” approach.”

The current plan may be part of the right approach, but it certainly is not the complete package and not sustainable long-term if this is the only approach.

The essence of the pending plan is built around competition and cost management. The thinking to-date is to have a public plan option that will be priced very competitively and provide competition to private insurance plans.

There will also be subsidies and tax credits to make healthcare more affordable across-the-board, with additional incentives for small businesses, as well as those in low-income brackets.

But is this plan sustainable long-term?

With the proposed plan, there appears to be the potential for initial cost savings of up to 15-20% in some segments, such as small business. We will also have significantly more uninsured individuals covered, which is needed.  Continue reading “Is Healthcare Reform Taking the Right Approach?”

The numbers tell the story of our current national healthcare crisis…

Lifestyle-related healthcare spending accounts for approximately 70% of total costs. In other words, if our system invested in preventive measures like improved diet, exercise, and education, we could save a huge proportion of our healthcare cost – and also improve millions of lives by helping people avoid obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other common problems.

But right now, lifestyle and healthy living on an individualized approach are not part of the plan for healthcare reform. Why is that?

We could see billions in healthcare savings if the facts about nutrients like vitamin D3, omega 3’s, probiotics and CoQ10 were communicated on a national level – to the medical community as well as individual patients. Greater incentives, education and reward systems need to be put in place for all lifestyle components from the use of nutrients, diet, exercise, stress management and reducing toxins in the body.

In the coming weeks, we will be exploring the trade-offs between health and money here on the Village Green blog. Join us as we seek answers to these questions:  Continue reading “Healthy Living and Prevention: Where Are They in Healthcare Reform?”

Marc Isaacson, president/CEO of Village Green Apothecary, was interviewed yesterday on Fox Business News about the President’s plans for healthcare reform. “The healthcare system and initiative that we have going forward is very much based on symptoms and not getting to the root cause. I think we have to look at a different model…that looks at a preventative approach.”
Play the full video here.