Today 125 million Americans suffer from one or more chronic diseases. That's roughly 45% of our population. In the year 2000, treating chronic diseases added $510 billion to U.S. health care costs. By the year 2020 that figure is expected to nearly double to $1.07 trillion! How can we claim to have the world's best health care and still have almost half of our people suffering from chronic illnesses? What is going on? Why, when the United States spends more than any other nation on health care, aren't we getting what we are paying for?

I learned the shocking answers to these questions on my journey of discovery. Even now, I find them hard to accept. As I think back over the last two years, and where they have led me, I realize that I was like most Americans when it came to issues like health care. I put my faith and trust in the institutions responsible for providing and overseeing health care in our nation. I put my faith and trust in the government to ensure that these institutions behaved properly. I put my faith and trust in the "experts" who, I was sure, knew more than I did. What I did not understand was that my faith and trust had been misplaced. I do now.

That understanding was the eventual destination of my voyage of discovery. It transformed me, and the book I had initially envisioned. I hope that what I have written can do as much for you.

Kathleen Deoul

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