Written by Lorian Eades   

I was encouraged when suicide recently moved into the top ten ways American citizens transition from bi-pedal mammals to compost. This is a very cost effective way to deal with the whole end of life thingy. It really does bend the health care cost curve for those individuals who embrace the final solution.

The increasing popularity of suicide as a viable alternative to livin' in the USA might also lead to more local creation of jobs that could never be off-shored. A visionary entrepreneur invest in a bunch of local franchise “Carcass Be Gone” R&R Centers (Release & Recycle). These centers would also help supply the fast growing organic produce sector of our economy with cheap compost. (Hat tip to Jonathan Swift and his "Modest Proposal")

All this got me thinking about other exciting top 10 lists. In particular, the top 10 most costly health conditions in America. Could those individuals who embrace their personal final solution thusly bending the health care cost curve be the way to control run away health care spending?

Here is a table listing these conditions, their annual cost in year 2008 and the percentage of total US health care spending that they consume.

Most Costly Medical Conditions in US (2008)
Disease Cost in Billions Percent of Total
Heart Disease $71.4 3.10
Trauma-related Disorder $67.3 2.93
Mental Disorder $59.9 2.60
Osteoarthritis $56.2 2.44
Hypertension $47.3 2.06
Diabetes $45.5 1.98
COPD & Asthma $44.5 1.93
Hyperlipidemia $38.5 1.67
Back Problems $34.6 1.50
Total $556.1 24.18

Total US Health Care $2,300


The point is simple - even if we eliminated all 10, we would still spend more on healthcare than almost every other modern country.

The focus on life style changes, better access to health care and new treatments just will never deliver enough of a punch to effect how much money if funneled though health care. Indeed, any improvements in treatment will simply allow the big health care players to reap more profit (the mafia extortion model of medical capitalism).

Moreover, the most reliable predictor of heart disease, cancer, osteoarthritis and diabetes is growing old. Both trauma-related disorder and mental disorder are reflective of living with a random infusion of bummers. Hypertension and Hyperlipidemia are highly related to long term stress - that is, the constant worry about when you will suffer a bummer. In total, 86% of the cost of the top 10 most expensive health conditions are directly related to growing old and living in a society that randomly punishes it’s members.

Perhaps I should put the “Carcass Be Gone” idea up on Kickstarter.