---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our health care approaches squander…"
description: "\"“Our health care approaches squander billions on extravagant treatment regimes that end up accomplishing little, as a society we refuse to adopt the sm..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15e/robert-martensen-80757_end-of-life-care_our-health-care-approaches-squander-bill_177608.jpg"
---

#  Our health care approaches squander billions on…

![“Our health care approaches squander billions on extravagant treatment regimes that end up accomplishing little, as a society we refuse to adopt the small, even tiny adjustments that could easily reduce the clawing uncertainties that now degrade millions.” quote by Robert Martensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15e/robert-martensen-80757_end-of-life-care_our-health-care-approaches-squander-bill_177608.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15e/robert-martensen-80757_end-of-life-care_our-health-care-approaches-squander-bill_177608.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15e/robert-martensen-80757_end-of-life-care_our-health-care-approaches-squander-bill_177608.jpg)

> ““Our health care approaches squander billions on extravagant treatment regimes that end up accomplishing little, as a society we refuse to adopt the small, even tiny adjustments that could easily reduce the clawing uncertainties that now degrade millions.””

[Robert Martensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-martensen/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Health systems waste huge sums on costly treatments while ignoring simple, small changes that could greatly improve public health.

**In simple terms:** Big spending ignores small fixes.

Key Takeaway

Adopt small health habits.

Themes

healthcare efficiency prevention policy economics

Mood

critical optimistic

Type

policy motivational

When to use this quote

- encouraging walking
- dietary guidelines
- vaccination campaigns
- preventive screenings

Key Concepts

Cost-benefit analysis public health strategy

Questions to Reflect On

- What small health habit could you adopt?
- How can policy encourage preventive measures?

A Different Perspective

Implementing small changes can face cultural resistance and political inertia.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Approaches Squander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/approaches-squander-1908199/) [End-of-life-care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/end-of-life-care-55532/) [Extravagant Treatment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extravagant-treatment-1908196/) [Health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/health/) [Health care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/health-care/) [Healthcare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/healthcare/) [Medicine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medicine/) [Squander Billions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/squander-billions-1908197/) [Treatment Regimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/treatment-regimes-1908198/) [Uncertainties Degrade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uncertainties-degrade-1908200/)

## Related quotes

> [“When I reflect on the stories of death supported by hospice care and contrast it with our story depicting an absence of support, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-j-shultz/when-i-reflect-on-the-stories-of-death-supported-by-hospice-care-and/)

[Lisa J. Shultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-j-shultz/)

> [“A paradigm shift of viewing palliative care or hospice as a gift instead of seeing it as giving up has the potential to change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-j-shultz/a-paradigm-shift-of-viewing-palliative-care-or-hospice-as-a-gift/)

[Lisa J. Shultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-j-shultz/)

> [“Gomers are human beings who have lost what goes into being human beings. They want to die, and we will not let them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-shem/gomers-are-human-beings-who-have-lost-what-goes-into-being-human/)

[Samuel Shem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-shem/)

> [“I felt myself in a sticky spot as a daughter and desperately needed a third party, such as a doctor, to address his declining…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-j-shultz/i-felt-myself-in-a-sticky-spot-as-a-daughter-and-desperately-needed-a/)

[Lisa J. Shultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-j-shultz/)

> [“I entered the picture in the eleventh hour as a guide to the exit of his life. I navigated as best I could the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-j-shultz/i-entered-the-picture-in-the-eleventh-hour-as-a-guide-to-the-exit-of/)

[Lisa J. Shultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-j-shultz/)

> [“If I had you, I would have never worried about the end of life; I don’t know why you do then.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/if-i-had-you-i-would-have-never-worried-about-the-end-of-life-i-don-t/)

[M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/)

> [“I believe it’s imperative to bring the light of support and knowledge to patients and families when death is approaching.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-j-shultz/i-believe-it-s-imperative-to-bring-the-light-of-support-and-knowledge/)

[Lisa J. Shultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-j-shultz/)

> [“The window of opportunity to plan and prepare for the end of his life had closed gradually. Any cracks left open to talk candidly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-j-shultz/the-window-of-opportunity-to-plan-and-prepare-for-the-end-of-his-life/)

[Lisa J. Shultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-j-shultz/)

## More by Robert Martensen

> [“There is one essential requirement for being close with a dying person: the letting go of self-concern.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-martensen/there-is-one-essential-requirement-for-being-close-with-a-dying/)

[Robert Martensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-martensen/)

> [“It costs about the same to house a maximum-security young adult prisoner for a year as it does to send his law-abiding counterpart to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-martensen/it-costs-about-the-same-to-house-a-maximum-security-young-adult/)

[Robert Martensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-martensen/)

[Explore all 3 Robert Martensen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-martensen/)

## More End-of-life-care quotes

> [“When I reflect on the stories of death supported by hospice care and contrast it with our story depicting an absence of support, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-j-shultz/when-i-reflect-on-the-stories-of-death-supported-by-hospice-care-and/)

[Lisa J. Shultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-j-shultz/)

> [“A paradigm shift of viewing palliative care or hospice as a gift instead of seeing it as giving up has the potential to change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-j-shultz/a-paradigm-shift-of-viewing-palliative-care-or-hospice-as-a-gift/)

[Lisa J. Shultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-j-shultz/)

> [“Gomers are human beings who have lost what goes into being human beings. They want to die, and we will not let them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-shem/gomers-are-human-beings-who-have-lost-what-goes-into-being-human/)

[Samuel Shem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-shem/)

> [“I felt myself in a sticky spot as a daughter and desperately needed a third party, such as a doctor, to address his declining…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-j-shultz/i-felt-myself-in-a-sticky-spot-as-a-daughter-and-desperately-needed-a/)

[Lisa J. Shultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-j-shultz/)

> [“I entered the picture in the eleventh hour as a guide to the exit of his life. I navigated as best I could the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-j-shultz/i-entered-the-picture-in-the-eleventh-hour-as-a-guide-to-the-exit-of/)

[Lisa J. Shultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-j-shultz/)

> [“If I had you, I would have never worried about the end of life; I don’t know why you do then.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/if-i-had-you-i-would-have-never-worried-about-the-end-of-life-i-don-t/)

[M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/)

> [“I believe it’s imperative to bring the light of support and knowledge to patients and families when death is approaching.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-j-shultz/i-believe-it-s-imperative-to-bring-the-light-of-support-and-knowledge/)

[Lisa J. Shultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-j-shultz/)

> [“The window of opportunity to plan and prepare for the end of his life had closed gradually. Any cracks left open to talk candidly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-j-shultz/the-window-of-opportunity-to-plan-and-prepare-for-the-end-of-his-life/)

[Lisa J. Shultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-j-shultz/)

[Browse all 9 End-of-life-care quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/end-of-life-care-55532/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“Our health care approaches squander billions on extravagant treatment regimes that end up accomplishing little, as a society we refuse to adopt the small, even tiny adjustments that could easily reduce the clawing uncertainties that now degrade millions.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Robert Martensen"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-martensen/our-health-care-approaches-squander-billions-on-extravagant-treatment/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "End-of-life-care"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-martensen/our-health-care-approaches-squander-billions-on-extravagant-treatment/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15e/robert-martensen-80757_end-of-life-care_our-health-care-approaches-squander-bill_177608.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15e/robert-martensen-80757_end-of-life-care_our-health-care-approaches-squander-bill_177608.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15e/robert-martensen-80757_end-of-life-care_our-health-care-approaches-squander-bill_177608.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Our health care approaches squander billions on extravagant treatment regimes that end up accomplishing…” — Robert Martensen",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Robert Martensen",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-martensen/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“Our health care approaches squander billions...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-martensen/our-health-care-approaches-squander-billions-on-extravagant-treatment/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-martensen/our-health-care-approaches-squander-billions-on-extravagant-treatment/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
