Snow Warns Obesity, Smoking Boost U.S. Health Costs

Excessive eating, smoking and drinking by Americans is partially responsible for rising health care costs weighing on the U.S. economy, Treasury Secretary John Snow said on Tuesday.

Snow, who has often singled out “frivolous lawsuits” against medical care providers as the main driver for a spike in U.S. health care costs, told business leaders that over-indulgent lifestyles were also a factor. “We have serious problems of people eating too much, drinking too much, smoking too much,” Snow said at the meeting at a Pennsylvania hospital. “We need a culture that leans against all that, because that reduces the chronic diseases that account for so much of the health care costs,” he said. “We need to take more personal accountability in terms of our own behaviors,” he said. “Preventive medicine would do an awful lot here, if people just followed good health practices.” Asked by reporters why he, the Treasury chief, was concerning himself with health care, Snow said health care costs had become a significant drag on businesses and by extension the economy. “Health care is affecting the way the economy performs. It’s affecting the competitiveness of American businesses. It’s affecting job creation. And it’s also affecting our budget outlook for the future,” Snow said. Premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose 11.2 percent between the spring of 2003 and spring of 2004, the fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth, according to the non-profit Kaiser Family Foundation. Since 2000, the Kaiser foundation said premiums for family coverage have increased 59 percent — more than six times the rate of inflation. Labor Department data show health care costs to employers rose 8.1 percent in the second quarter of 2004 from a year earlier following a 9.3 percent rise in the first quarter. Snow on Tuesday also pressed the need for tort reform to limit litigation against health care providers, which he said has driven up health insurance premiums. “One of the root causes is frivolous lawsuits,” Snow said.”It seems to me while it’s not the whole answer, it’s certainly a partial answer,” he said. “We are not going to solve this problem unless we get at the root cause of abuse of the litigation system,” he said. Snow acknowledged in response to a reporter’s question that demand for new, expensive medical procedures also contributed to higher costs. “There are new technologies that are expensive, that health care providers want to make available to their patients. That is a factor,” he said. Snow expressed support for a plan the Bush administration has championed as an alternative to traditional employer-funded health insurance. These Health Savings Accounts would enable individuals to save money for health spending tax-free, with a higher deductible than co-pay plans. “There really is a difference when you’re spending your own money on something compared to spending someone else’s money,” Snow said. “If it’s your own money you’re spending, you might think about your own health a little better and take a walk around the block once in a while.” (Source: Reuters, Oct 2004)