don's report archive

by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.

Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

Lately, there have been scandalous revelations about the way credit card companies gouge customers. It seems late fees are reaching record levels. According to a recent (May 21, 2002) article in the Wall Street Journal, annual revenue from penalty charges reached a record $7.3 billion, up from $1.7 billion in 1996. More card holders than ever before are paying. In the past year alone, 58 percent of cardholders paid such a fee. Industry leaders are licking their chops, so to speak, waiting for more "live for today, tomorrow be dammed" fiscal suicides to come their way throughout the year.

This is very much how medical doctors COULD prey on patients, if they were so inclined, but they definitely are not. If they were not devoted to helping patients stay well, doctors would gladly stand by and let the clock run out on those who smoke, eat too much, exercise not at all or too little. We are fortunate that doctors and other medical personnel (including the drug industry) are dedicated to wellness. If they lacked this commitment to promoting healthy lifestyles as their first passion, they would not invest so much energy as they do into prevention and health education nor would they encourage personal responsibility in all transactions. They certainly would not be such eminent lifestyle role models.

Despite the efforts of devoted medical professionals, people still fail to pay their lifestyle bills on time (in other words, they refrain from doing things essential to staying well!) As a result, they end up paying a great deal more in the form of exorbitant "late fees" (preventable illnesses such as adult onset diabetes and heart attacks) charged by Mother Nature.

The credit card industry makes its money from both higher fees and shortened grace periods (the time between the end of a billing cycle and payment due dates.) So do doctors and the rest of the sickness care industry, though they would much prefer that people kept themselves well as long as possible. Dedicated medical professionals are not cynical exploiters of the weak-minded, hapless folks as are those pitiless fiscal vultures like Chase Manhattan, Morgan Stanley and American Express who prey upon those who act contrary to their own best interests. However, the results are the same -- needless costs and human misery.

Of course, card company public relations experts claim that they would prefer customers pay on time -- they surely regret taking in all that fee money from customers who can't manage to pay off their bills each month. Myself -- I'm skeptical -- I think they manage to sleep well despite such practices. On the other hand, I think doctors and others in the medical system are doing all they can to encourage people to pay the price now for well being in order not to have to pay vastly more later. I want to believe that doctors are doing all in THEIR power to arrange a better system that motivates people to stay well in the first place with healthy lifestyles. Why is it I am cynical about the one profession but not the other. I don't know -- maybe it's the fact that the credit card fiscal titans on Wall Street don't have to abide by a Hippocratic oath or something.

By the way, one reason the card companies charge so much for late fees is they no longer make enough money on annual fees, waived for the most part due to industry competition for customers. Also, interest rates have dropped, further cutting into profits. In addition, there are more and more customers filing for bankruptcy, which wipes out the balances of delinquent cardholders.

In any event, life is hard for procrastinators. Do not be one, either with your lifestyle or your credit cards. Do not put off living in a manner consistent with self-management for lifestyle artistry. Learn the key principles in the skill areas associated with the physical, mental and meaning/purpose domains of wellness. Just for good measure, do not rely on the good will of medical doctors or the power of modern drugs to patch you up or ease the pain in return for paying lifestyle late fees for unnecessary illnesses and diseases.

Instead, be well and look on the bright side of life.

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the PHYSICAL DOMAIN under the skill area of lifestyle habits. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

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