We Don't Have a Healthcare Crisis—We Have a Health Crisis

Written By Marji Keith and Chris Joseph

The most radical idea isn't who pays for treatment, but why so many Americans need it.

When politicians talk healthcare, they're missing the forest for the trees. They'll argue all day about who should pay the bill, how to lower drug prices, or which insurance model we should use. Insurance companies get to decide which procedures they'll allow—an MRI for this, a PET scan for that.

But here's what's missing from all this haggling over coverage and costs: Why are so many Americans getting sick in the first place?

That's where the conversation needs to go.

America Doesn't Just Have a Healthcare Crisis—It Has a Health Crisis

The real issue isn't just the price of pharmaceuticals—it's the sheer volume of people who rely on them. We should be asking how to reduce the number of people getting sick, not just how to treat them once they're already in the doctor's office.

This creates a vicious cycle. When doctors' offices are packed with patients dealing with preventable chronic diseases, physicians have less time to spend with each person. The quick fix? Prescribe medication rather than dig into root causes or lifestyle changes. It's easier to write a prescription for diabetes medication than to spend 30 minutes discussing nutrition and sustainable habit changes.

Meanwhile, a visit with a nutritionist is often an out-of-pocket expense—for many, an unthinkable cost. We've been conditioned to believe our healthcare should all be covered by someone else.

Rates of chronic illnesses like heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and many cancers are skyrocketing. These aren't random misfortunes. More often than not, they result from:

• Lifestyle factors we can control

• Environmental exposures we can minimize

• Processed food systems we can change

• Chronic stress we can manage

• Lack of preventive education we can provide

Instead, our system is overwhelmingly reactive. It waits until people are sick, then steps in with treatment—often expensive, ongoing, and highly imperfect.

What If We Flipped the Script?

Imagine if the national conversation shifted from "Who pays for treatment?" to "How do we prevent people from needing treatment in the first place?"

That's not to minimize the importance of accessible medical care—it's essential. But we also need to invest in the front end: quality food access, physical activity, environmental safety, clean water, stress reduction, and health education that starts in childhood.

Health should not begin with a prescription pad.

Think of health like an inverted pyramid. The fundamentals—clean water, exercise, good nutrition, and quality sleep—form the solid base at the bottom. They hold up everything else and keep us vibrant. Medical procedures, drugs, and interventions should be at the narrow tip at the top, used sparingly for true emergencies like a broken bone or serious injury.

Many of us are so metabolically broken that we don't even know what it feels like to have that vibrant base of vitality. The more drugs we add, the more metabolically broken we become, and the more we rely on even more drugs.

Even Well-Intentioned Politicians Miss the Mark

Take Bernie Sanders—a passionate advocate for Medicare for All who fights to lower prescription drug costs. That's admirable and necessary. But his focus, like so many others, is still on making sickness more affordable, not on reducing how many people get sick in the first place.

The goal shouldn't just be to reduce costs. It should be creating a reality where fewer people need drugs at all. Where people don't have to rely on hospital visits nearly as often because they're simply healthier.

Yet we've become so dependent on doctors that most Americans would find this concept like science fiction. Here's the truth: Universal healthcare focuses on helping people after they get sick. It should really be called what it is—sickcare, not healthcare.

True public health should focus on helping people not get sick at all.

The Bottom Line: Maybe the most radical idea isn't who pays the doctor's bill. It's how we help people avoid becoming patients in the first place.

We can and should fight for a healthcare system that serves everyone. But we also have to recognize that no amount of insurance can save a population that's chronically unwell. A healthy society isn't just more compassionate—it's far more affordable, sustainable, and resilient.

Prevention isn't sexy. If you prevent disease, there's no glory. Often it's seen as just good luck or good genes if someone is fit and disease-free. The reality is that remaining healthy in our world takes serious effort.

Prevention is where the real power lies. And it's time we started acting on it.

About the Authors

Marji Keith is a health coach and metabolic terrain advocate with a deep commitment to helping people heal from chronic illness by restoring balance across all aspects of life. After navigating her own cancer diagnosis, Marji turned her personal transformation into a mission: empowering others to take charge of their health with compassion, wisdom, and evidence-based tools.

Chris Joseph is also a cancer thriver, author of Life is a Ride, and a certified Terrain Advocate and Radical Remission Coach. Diagnosed with stage 3 inoperable pancreatic cancer in 2016, he defied the odds using lifestyle, metabolic, and integrative approaches. Today, Chris shares what he’s learned to help others reclaim their health, question conventional dogma, and chart their own healing journeys with humility and grit.

Together, Marji and Chris co-lead workshops, write essays, and coach individuals seeking a more empowering path to health. Learn more at www.terrainnavigators.com.