U.S. Health Care- A Year Ago

This is a multi-media project Jessica Grunenberg and I wrote and produced for our Digital Journalism course last spring. While Ithaca, NY is well known for it's abundance of "alternative" medicine practices, integrative medicine is still not widely accepted across the country and it didn't come up in the health care reform debates. This project focused on health care in the United States and how prevention from integrative medicine could benefit many Americans.

ITHACA, NY-While Cornell students headed out onto the quads Friday April 21 to enjoy the sunny spring afternoon, Minella Capili headed over to Goldwin Smith Hall for the final event of the Sick in America Conference.

The first annual Sick in America Conference was a completely student run week long event that focused on the growing concerns and possible solutions for the current United States health care system. The conference featured lectures, panel discussions, documentary presentations and art installations. One of the hot topics of the conference was the importance of preventative medicine.

“The thing is that people don’t know about these different kinds of medicines and that’s why we’re trying to get the word out,” said Minella Capili, a student member of Cornell’s Integrative Healthcare Club. “I mean, if you look at people in poor areas they are not going to go to an acupuncturist or chiropractor, they are going to go to the hospital when they get sick.”

Capili and other Integrative Healthcare Club members helped run an Interactive Health and Wellness Fair earlier that week. The fair provided students with free demonstrations in alternative medicine ranging from acupuncture to herbal consultations. Along with conversations on alternative medicine there was also a lot of talk about alternatives to the current United States’ healthcare system.

One member of the club, Kristen Welch, shared a story of a friend who graduated last spring and did not secure a job until the following winter, during that time he was not insured because as soon as he was no longer a college student he was excluded from his parents’ coverage. This is a growing concern for students who will be graduating this spring, especially with the unstable job market.

In January Governor Paterson proposed extending the age that young adults could claim to be dependent on their parents’ health insurance plans from 19, or 22 if a full-time student, to 29. The 19 to 29 year-old bracket makes up 31% of New York State’s uninsured population and it is estimated that within one year about 80,000 people could be insured with the new plan. President Obama’s proposed plan will also extend the age that a child can be covered under their parent’s plan to 25.

However, according to Dr. Sean Nicholson, Cornell University professor of health care policy and management, while extending the age limit sounds great, it also means more money for parents. Nicholson also said that Obama’s plan proposes to widen the eligibility for Medicaid. Then, along with more baby boomers growing older, young people will eventually be paying more of their tax dollars towards health care for the poor and eledrly; so health care systems should be a concern for young people.

“Right now we cover about 1.5% of the hospital expenses for those with Medicaid and the elderly,” said Dr. Nicholson. “That could easily quadruple in next few years.”

There is a strong reform movement for the single-payer health insurance plan, especially in the Ithaca area. In a single-payer system, like that of Canada, health care is universal. While it is provided to everyone there are also long wait lines for services. Dr. Nicholson also pointed out that since doctors are paid similar salaries there is sometimes less desire to practice medicine.

Brooke Hansen, an Ithaca College medical anthropologist professor, said that what the United States needs is a single-payer system.

“But, how are we going to get the surgeons, HMOs and the pharmaceutical companies to give up those profits?” said Professor Hansen. Both Professor Hansen and Dr. Nicholson agree that it will take time for the health care system in American to drastically change.

On a local level there is a different kind of system in Ithaca. The Ithaca Health Alliance formed in 1997 to provide financial assistance for health care. Through grants and interest-free loans members can receive all sorts of health services including dental exams, eye care and emergency care. Bethany Schroeder, the IHA board president, made it clear that the IHA is not a form of health insurance but rather an alternative to it. This alternative has over 700 members.

In 2006 the Ithaca Health Alliance started an Ithaca Free Clinic. The Clinic provides 100% freehealth care for residents of New York State. In the first year they expected only 300 visits but received over 800. Now, they regulating seeing up to 30 patients each time they are open and they had over 1,086 patients in 2007. Students are welcome to the Free Clinic as long as their insurance does not cover the services offered there.

“The model that we are trying to cultivate here is being a fully integrated clinic,” said Sadie Hayes, the Ithaca Free Clinic coordinator. “Here the doctors not only work in the same building but across the hallway. They work together to better patients health.” This model is the only model like it in the United States for a free clinic. Some of the alternative services offered include: massage therapy, acupuncture, herbal medicine, chiropractic care and nutritional counseling. Many local alternative medicine doctors volunteer at the clinic a few times a month.

“I enjoy the multi-pronged approach,” said Dr. Anthony Fazio, an acupuncturist, owner of Peaceful Spirit Acupuncture and clinic volunteer. Dr. Fazio says this approach allows doctors of different types of medicine to learn from one another to create an integrative approach.

This integrative idea of medicine is what many students who soon will be emerging into the medical field, believe is the future of health care. The combination of western medicine with eastern medicine results in a more well rounded treatment. “A lot of our health care dollars are spent on chronic diseases,” said Kristen Welch, the student coordinator of the Cornell’s Interactive Health and Wellness Fair. “So things like alternative, integrative, and preventive health pathways can really alleviate some of those chronic disabilities.”

As Welch, Capili and other students involved in the changing landscape of health care see the benefits of alternative and integrative medicine, it is predicated that mainstream health providers will follow suit.