ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, November 15, 1993                   TAG: 9403090035
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RON MALACHOWSKY
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

HEALTH CARE

OUR COUNTRY sprang from the Declaration of Independence and has always prided itself on demonstrating through every facet of life those principles of independence. And yet, our country is being torn apart by the skyrocketing costs of a medical-care system that, in the not-too-distant future, will leave us dependent on other countries' banking systems to loan us money to help defray our astronomical debt.

What can we do to throw off these economic shackles? Preventative medicine can help alleviate the burgeoning problem by saving money and, more importantly, lives.

Everyday life is full of examples of preventative care. We know that money wisely spent today will pay dividends in the future. However, we have inherited an antiquated health-care system that allows a person insurance coverage for a thousand-dollar operation to correct ``hammer toes,'' but not for the orthotics at one-third the price that might have prevented the problem.

What of the premature, low-birth-weight baby on a respirator and multiple, costly antibiotics whose only crime was having a young mother ignorant of the devastating effects of a diet lacking in proper nutrition and who is too poor to afford adequate pre-natal care? At a typical hospital in Virginia, that baby will spend an average of 3.86 days in the neonatal intensive care unit at a cost of $2,642 per day. This, of course, does does not include the overwhelming emotional costs of nuturing such an infant.

The Clinton health plan incorporates preventative medicine to a degree not seen before. However, the final plan hammered out by the Congress and the lobbyists from the insurance and pharmaceutical companies may be but a pale reminder of the original proposal.

It is up to the American people to make their desires known, to write and call their elected officials and voice their support to make preventative medicine the crux of our health care.

Picture a small spot on your car. Repair it today and the cost is minimal; ignore it and your wallet will be drained. It is time we realized that until we make the concept of prevention a key player in our health-care system, we will continue to wear those economic shackles.

\ Ron Malachowksy of Roanoke is a physician assistant specializing in geriatrics at the Salem Veterans Affairs Medical Center. 


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