Healthcare vs. Medical Care: Mercedes Schlapp and Dr. J.D. Yang on America UnCanceled

In this episode of CPAC’s America UnCanceled, Mercedes Schlapp and Dr. J.D. Yang discussed the difference between healthcare and medical care. Leveraging 36 years of experience, Dr. Yang is the CEO of Northern Medical Center and the founder of the American Institute for Clinical Acupuncture (AICA). In addition to his studies of modern medicine, he grew up in a household that relied primarily on traditional Chinese medicine. According to Yang, America has a crisis in the overuse of ‘medical treatment,’ which leans heavily on treatment and pills, and the underuse of ‘healthcare,’ which prioritizes personal action and lifestyle adjustment. 

He stated that medical care addresses the crisis reactively, treating problems in the short term, while healthcare aims to prevent disease and proactively improve holistic health. Although they share the primary end-goal of reducing suffering and saving lives, the lack of healthcare education in the United States leads to an over-reliance on medical treatments. Mercedes agreed, stating that “any issue [is] all about solving through pills and obviously, it leads to dependence. It’s like a band-aid—it doesn’t really lead to the healing process of the [whole] person.” 

Dr. J.D. Yang proposed a new and improved medical-healthcare system, with “someone in the middle who understands both, acting as a holistic conductor.” Addressing alternative, complementary, functional, holistic, whole-person, mind-body, and lifestyle medicines, Yang suggested “going back to common sense.”, through understanding that “our body is a house for our soul and spirit.”