Sublime

“They were able to show that in 24-hour emergency centers and small clinics, a person would go in for one problem, and next thing you know, the billing would have multiple categories added. And suddenly, instead of Medicare paying $100, it was paying $700.”

In hospitals and clinics worldwide, patients and doctors have been recast as customers and service-providers. In fields and forests on every continent, economists are calculating the monetary value of ‘natural capital’ and ‘ecosystem services’, ranging from the economic worth of the world’s wetlands (said to be $3.4 billion per year) to the global

LENGTH

eked

to balance “upstream” work to keep people healthy through adequate services in the social sphere, with “downstream” work of medical care for people after they have become ill.

We need to know in detail what sustains and nourishes us.

sclerotic

We may therefore conclude that high altitudes, pure air, and cool climates are among the strongest promoters of human health and longevity.

our medical system, for all its extraordinary capabilities, is ill-equipped to handle the steep rise in this kind of chronic illness. That system is great at providing acute care and terrible at managing the complexities of long-term care.