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Obama White House Can Save $3.7 Trillion and Extend Lifespan 29+ Years,
Predicts Revolutionary A4M Healthcare Plan

We unveil an innovative, technology-based fix to healthcare with the potential to:

• Increase the lifespan, or improve the healthspan, of all Americans by 29+ years;
• Slash healthcare costs, saving $3.7 Trillion; and
• Replace the disease-based approach to medicine with a wellness-oriented model

A comprehensive program to reform and advance healthcare in the United States, The A4M Twelve-Point Actionable Healthcare Plan: A Blueprint for A Low Cost, High Yield Wellness Model of Healthcare by 2012 has garnered support from 35 professional medical organizations and educational institutions and was developed with invaluable input from the 24,000 physician, health practitioner, and scientist members of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M; www.worldhealth.net) who represent 110 nations worldwide.

When legislators on Capitol Hill return for the Fall Congress Session, they will continue to debate a $1.65 trillion, 10-year plan to overhaul the nation’s failing healthcare system. The majority of the plan focuses on how to pay for health insurance, rather than formulating a comprehensive plan of action for reform itself. The contributing editors, authors and endorsing organizations of The Twelve-Point Plan submit that the underlying philosophy of healthcare in this nation must be reformed in revolutionary new ways. In place of the disease-based approach that treats people after they exhibit signs of illness, we submit that it is time for the nation to adopt a wellness-oriented model to healthcare. Such a model stresses very early detection of illness and promotes disease prevention, yielding opportunities for the best prognoses and economical treatments. As reported by the Congressional Budget Office, up to one-third of this nation’s healthcare spending – more than $700 billion – does not improve Americans' health outcomes.

To compound the issue of healthcare reform, the United States is a driving force in a trend of unprecedented global aging. The average age of the world's population is increasing at an unprecedented rate. The number of people worldwide ages 65+ was 506 million as of midyear 2008; by 2040, that number will hit 1.3 billion. Thus, in just over 30 years, the proportion of older people will double from 7% to 14% of the total world population. In the United States, men and women ages 65+ represented 12.4% of the population in the year 2000, with that age bracket projected to swell to stand at 20% of the population by 2030. In 2007 in the United States, six major diseases among Americans ages 65+ resulted in medical and lost productivity costs of more than $196 billion. In the coming years, the cases of these six diseases, namely – chronic lung disease, ischemic heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, pneumonia and gastrointestinal illness – are expected to surge as the population ages, potentially sending the costs of age-related diseases skyrocketing. Steps to prepare the nation to address the social, economic, and personal ramifications of a graying society now, are urgently necessary.

The A4M Twelve-Point Actionable Healthcare Plan: A Blueprint for A Low Cost, High Yield Wellness Model of Healthcare by 2012 provides the following practicable “here and now” solutions to reform and advance healthcare in the United States, while addressing the challenges of global aging:

The costs of health care impose an enormous burden on the economy. The latest projections from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services show that annual health-care expenditures in the United States are expected to reach $3.1 trillion by 2012, growing at an average annual rate of 7.3% during the forecast period or 17.7% of gross domestic product, up from 14.1% today.

To compound the spiraling costs of healthcare, the nation’s physicians are discontent with the business of medicine. In the fall 2008, the Physician’s Foundation surveyed 12,000 primary care doctors and specialists nationwide, and found that nearly half – a staggering 49% – said they would consider leaving medicine. Many said they are overwhelmed with the bureaucratic red-tape of insurance companies and government agencies. For a significant number of those physicians surveyed, it has become financially unattractive to operate a medical practice. In addition, an American Medical Association survey found that new medical school graduates are shying away from family medicine, with only 2% of the 2009 graduating year planning to enter primary care medicine.

Today, the climate of the practice of medicine is daunting. Mark Linzer, from the University of Wisconsin, and colleagues surveyed 422 internists and family physicians, studying patterns of dissatisfaction as a function of work environment and quality of care. The researchers found that 53.1% reported time pressures during the patient consult, and 48.1% reported chaotic working environments. Only 23.7% felt that quality was a strong emphasis of the patient-physician encounter. Nearly one-third of the physicians (30.1%) said they were likely to leave their practices within two years.

In short, the national healthcare system is crippled by burdensome regulations and paperwork, declining financial incentive for physicians, and a dominating disease-based approach. It also suffers from the demands of an ever-graying population, as the number of Americans aged 45-64 – who will reach 65 over the next two decades – increased by 38% from 1997 to 2007.

The contributing editors, authors and endorsing organizations of The Twelve-Point Plan urge this nation to adopt a wellness-oriented model to healthcare. Such a model stresses very early detection of illness and promotes disease prevention, yielding opportunities for the best prognoses and economical treatments. Anti-aging medicine is the pinnacle of biotechnology joined with advanced clinical preventive medicine. Adoption of the anti-aging medical model delivers the best of advanced preventive medicine to all Americans, not merely our older population segments.  The contributing editors, authors and endorsing organizations of The Twelve-Point Plan urge this nation to adopt a technology-driven, wellness-oriented model to healthcare.

The elements of The Twelve-Point Plan will significantly improve and extend the healthy human lifespan. Each of the points of this Program will also deliver a profound net economic savings via three major mechanisms:

• Conservation of worker productivity
• Reduction of disability and hospitalization costs
• Reduction of the burden of costs associated with chronic long-term medical conditions.

The Twelve-Point Plan provides practicable “here and now” solutions to reform and advance healthcare in the United States, while addressing the challenges of global aging. Indeed, the implementation of The A4M Twelve-Point Actionable Healthcare Plan: A Blueprint for A Low Cost, High Yield Wellness Model of Healthcare by 2012 may save our society a projected $3.64 Trillion in healthcare costs, and extend the healthy lifespan of each of our nation’s residents by up to 29 productive, vital years.

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