Fossil fuel scarcity and the reform of healthcare

Currently, America's healthcare predicament is analyzed in terms of acute (hospital-based) care. It is a rare analyst who notes the relevance of the disparity between public financing of acute care and public health, which the Institute of Medicine estimates at a 95%-5% ratio. Accordingly, healthcare reform proposals ignore the significance of public health and focus on: 1.) controlling acute care costs; 2.) providing coverage for 45 million uninsured citizens and several million more underinsured; and 3.) needed improvements in the quality of acute care. However, the healthcare crisis will be resolved in the context of the worldwide energy emergency idiomatically known as “peak oil.” In short, the era of cheap fossil fuels is entering its twilight and both acute care and public health – presently and dangerously cut-off from this awareness- will undergo system-altering change. These changes derive from the nature of oil (natural gas is also set to peak) as a unique commodity that is both a source of energy and is used to make a dizzying array of medical and ancillary products (plastic, jells, lubricants, pharmaceuticals, etc.). In sum, as the world passes through peak oil and natural gas, the cost of our present healthcare system will not be sustainable and a thorough review of healthcare finance will be forced upon our nation. The role of public health will come to the fore for the simple reason that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure –a fact suppressed by the current healthcare system of vested interests.