Health costs to surge, right in line with drug sales

Bonnie - two prominent headlines caught my eye last week. According to the CDC, the cost for caring for aging Americans will add 25 percent to the nation's health care bill by 2030 unless preventive measures are taken. In addition, reports that U.S. Prescription drug sales rose by 8.3 percent last year shows that prevention is obviously not a priority.

Currently, 80 percent of Americans aged 65 and older have at least one chronic disease that could lead to premature death and disability. That is an astonishing number. With drug sales to increase at a 6 to 9 percent clip through 2010, our health care costs will continue to skyrocket as more Americans add more medications not just to treat their chronic disease, but also treat the mounting side effects from drug overload.

As I have said many times, chronic disease can be managed if one gets to the root of the cause. This takes a lot of hard work at the start, and a ton of prevention going forward. How dire will things get before we kick the proverbial band-aid approach?