Human beings are dying every day in our country. Focusing on real issues instead of highlighting the opioid crisis, fentanyl, and substance abuse disorder, is what is your life worth? The correct answer is saving lives, right? So, what costs more lives in the United States? Is it Cancer? Heart disease? Or is it fentanyl? Which of these has created more outrage? The rising cost of prescription drugs? Doctor’s visits and the exorbitant cost of co-pays? Health insurance? Or is the idea of being healthy becoming unattainable because it costs less?

Consider this: Your life as a human being in the United States is based on how much you can spend on healthcare in your lifetime. That’s it. Your life expectancy? It boils down to cash flow on the healthcare industry’s balance sheet. So, what are we worth in America? Are we being distracted? Are we being misdirected by our government from our failing healthcare system?

In 2023, heart disease was the leading cause of death, claiming over 700,000 lives, compared to over 80,000 deaths from fentanyl. Heart disease is treatable, starting with physical exercise, a healthy diet, and quitting tobacco and alcohol. Whose lives are more important? Those lost to fentanyl or heart disease?

Both conditions are treatable if patients follow their medical clinician’s advice. But is one life more valuable than another? Helping someone with heart disease incurs costs for insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and doctors. The same question applies to someone who could potentially overdose on fentanyl. What does it mean if they recover from substance abuse? Would that save or cost the medical community more?

In terms of government spending, the cost of a human being depends on how sick or potentially sick they could be. What if the distraction prevents us from questioning how our system fails to care about the average American? We spend our time focusing on the number of people dying from drug overdoses because it drains millions of dollars from our system, whereas heart disease generates billions in revenue. Magicians misdirect your attention. That’s what makes the trick work. If we focused on heart disease and the healthcare system? The corporations who stand the most to lose would and often do get upset, just like they did when a universal healthcare system was proposed. It wasn’t because the cost of care would be less. Or that the level of care would be less. It was the potential loss of billions in lost revenue causing a violent revolt of the industry itself.

In 2022, the United States spent $4.5 trillion on healthcare, about $13,493 per person. For the average worker, that’s over half of their yearly income. This spending accounted for 17.3% of the gross domestic product, GDP.

Our country values revenue over life unless that life generates revenue for your business. Those of us who don’t get sick often or don’t have a debilitating disease threaten the system. When did you last see a commercial promoting a healthy lifestyle without a medication, weight loss program, or gym attached?

The next time you hear about a ‘crisis’ in the healthcare industry, stop and ask, “What do you not want me to hear?” When you hear about a ‘crisis,’ stop and think, why and what is our country trying to distract you from?