Truth in Comedy

My favorite comedian is Brian Regan and if you watched the above video you'll see "truth in comedy" certainly exists as he tackles his high cholesterol and feelings of inferiority when visiting his doctor.

But as Carol Burnett once said "comedy is tragedy plus time." And our country is heading for tragedy with regards to health care. It's not just that people don't listen to their doctors - they also aren't going - especially if they perceive it's more important to fill their cars with gas and put food on the table vs. paying for prescriptions or doctors visits. In a recent article in the WSJ (Consumers Cut Health Spending as Economic Downturn Takes Toll 9.22/Vanessa Furhmans)

As the credit crunch threatens to throw the economy into a deep slump, Americans are already cutting back on health care... Health policy experts say patients short term care cutbacks could lead to more medical problems and higher spending down the road.

Here are some more alarming statistics from this article.

According to National Association of Insurance Commissioners, 11% of consumers surveyed said they scaled back on prescription drugs to save money. And 22% said the economy is causing them to go to the doctor less often.

The truth is unless people change their behavior and play an active role taking care of their own health, there will always be a health care crisis (sicker people = increased health costs for everyone). Yet, as organizational behavior specialists would say you can't change behavior without metrics. In other words, Brian Regan and others might decide to do something about their high cholesterol if they had incentives to do so. People might make the choice to fill their prescriptions if they were less costly. And they would certainly take their meds if they knew not taking them would cause them to pay a higher premiums on their health care. The bottom line is - incentives change people's behavior - and as Ruth Buzzy would say - "That's the Truth."