Last Friday The Olympian published a letter to the editor in which I proposed a plan that would reduce Washington state Medicaid expenditures by at least $3 billion:
Vitamin D3 is budget shortfall solution
http://www.theolympian.com/letters/story/1102224.html
The idea wasn't mine, but originated with William Faloon, director and co-founder of the Life Extension Foundation:
William Faloon, director of the Life Extension Foundation, believes that we can reduce Medicare and Medicaid costs by as much as 50 percent by giving clients 5,000-to-7,000 IU of D3 per day.
Like lowering the tax rate to increase tax revenues, spending money to save money may seem counter-intuitive. At least to some. But it makes sense.
Most Americans suffer from a deficiency of Vitamin D3. This causes all kinds of problems:
Current research has implicated vitamin D deficiency as a major factor in the pathology of at least 17 varieties of cancer as well as heart disease, stroke, hypertension, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, depression, chronic pain, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, muscle wasting, birth defects, periodontal disease, and more. -- Understanding Vitamin D Cholecalciferol, John Jacob Cannell, MD, The Vitamin D Council
In this economy, where a program like this would be viewed solely as an expensive public health measure rather than a cost-reduction effort, it won't happen.
What the state cannot do, however, tribes can at their tribal clinics. If we can prove it works in Indian Country, where we have the lowest overall health metrics of any demographic in the country, then it might gain traction in the rest of the nation.
So I've started to promote the idea in Indian Country. First, to tribal health officials here in Washington state, then to some national Indian health authorities, and also to my own tribe's health board.
The article I wrote on this, along with links to the Foundation's articles on D3 deficiency, and how addressing this problem can save the nation billions, can be found here:
A bold plan to save tribal health money
http://www.backlash.com/content/politics/2010/rodvanmechelen_2010_0117.html
But if we were a nation suffering from vitamin C deficiency and millions of people were getting sick and dying from scurvy, the cure would be cheap vitamin C supplements. Today, most Americans suffer from vitamin D3 deficiency. We spend billions to treat the sicknesses this causes when, for a fraction of the cost, we can cure the cause.
Reducing Washington State Medicaid expenditures by only 10% would save the State $3 billion. However, William Faloon, director of the Life Extension Foundation, believes that the reduction would be closer to 50%. For Washington state, that would amount to about $15 billion. Either way, it would eliminate the budget shortfall.
Posted by: Rod Van Mechelen on January 24, 2010 06:10 PMbeyond that, i'm especially intriged that you think health care coverage for all washingtonians is bad, but spending $150 million that won't do much to boost health or lower health care costs to the state, is good? do you not see the hypocrisy in that?
Posted by: mike on January 29, 2010 10:12 PM