Staying Healthy

The White House has released another of its health care reform clarification emails— there will be more. It seems strange to me that the focus is on insurance coverage rather than on the spiraling costs of the health care itself.

Frankly, the drafters of the insurance reforms have little, if any, understanding of insurance, risk assessment, or underwriting— and nary a clue about running a business. But why should they care? This is Robin Hood politics, not business. Why do we continue to re-elect them is a far better question.

Incidentally, I am not a health insurance salesman or healthcare professional— just a payer of far too much in small-group insurance premiums in spite of a crazy-high deductible!

Insurance is neither a cost of obtaining healthcare services nor an expense associated with those services. Insurance is an agreement in which a private company agrees to pay part of someone else’s medical expenses in exchange for premiums it collects in advance from all of its insureds.

If President Obama owned the New World Order Health Insurance Company, he would not be willing to insure an applicant with brain cancer nor would he be willing to pay an unlimited lifetime benefit to all insureds— not without a premium that reflects the risks to his personal bank account.

Theoretically, insurance companies collect enough in premiums to operate profitably while paying all the claims they have agreed to pay under contracts with the individuals and groups that they insure. If we add more risk, the insurance company has no choice but to increase premiums.

The persons who own the insurance companies (you and me, pal) expect them to operate profitably. The companies employ thousands of actuaries, healthcare industry expense analysts, claims adjusters, fraud inspectors, service personnel, underwriters, risk assessors, etc. to assure that this happens.

Insurance companies protect us by standing ready to pay “covered” expenses over and above whatever deductions, exclusions, and limitations are agreed upon in advance. There is a viable legal contract between the parties— financial disasters are avoided if we get really sick.

Within the terms of their agreements, insurance companies determine who is insurable, and at what premium. Their job is to pay covered medical expenses— and they have a vested interest in keeping medical expenses as low as possible. But do they really?

Just as the financial crisis was partially caused by business conflicts of interest so too are there conflicting interests in the insurance-healthcare-drug-medical supply industries. These conflicts reduce the natural desire to control the costs of all healthcare services.

We can control the industry to eliminate the conflicts of interest. We can (and should) police the boardrooms of insurance companies to eliminate “abuse of shareholders” through excessive salary packages.

Perhaps we should require health care insurers to be “mutual” companies, or maybe “network” doctors should not be allowed to bill patients for amounts above what the insurance actually pays. Maybe the annual deductible could be dealt with differently without increasing premiums.

We can tax for-profit hospitals higher to encourage more non-profit care facilities; we can keep doctors, insurance and drug companies from owning hospitals; we can cap jury awards for medical malpractice or error, and we can give tax relief to medical practitioners who provide free health services to the indigent and uninsurable.

But the government’s efforts to redefine insurance are counter-productive. As cold as it may sound, if we make insurance companies cover pre-existing brain tumors, the expense is coming out of your pocket in the form of higher insurance premiums or higher taxes— and it’s likely that the healthiest among us will be the ones paying the increased taxes.

The White House list of reforms, every one of them, would increase insurance company costs and our premiums while doing nothing to reduce the price of the medical services we receive. They only sound good to those who do not understand insurance.

Insurance is designed to pay the bills— reforms need to make the bills smaller for everyone. Does this plan cut any costs, or just increase insurance premiums for those who will still be able to pay them?

Group health (and even dental) insurance is a benefit used by many employers to attract and retain employees. I’ve heard rumors that the reform plan will tax employers who don’t provide insurance and tax those employees who receive the benefits. True or not, neither approach helps the economy or reduces health care expenses— both raise taxes for everyone.

Insurance can only be made more affordable by reducing the costs of the healthcare that is provided. Let’s focus on streamlined record keeping, controlling ambulance chasers, jury awards, drug company advertising, an army of lobbyists, and industry conflicts of interest.

We should also make all government employees, from the top down, dance to the same tune as the rest of us— that’ll do away with the tax on benefits. Then, next chance you get, do away with an incumbent.

The World Health Organization recently reported women live longer however they are not living healthier lives. They have reported societies fail to meet the health care needs of women at the key moments of their lives especially in adolescent and older ages. “Its time to pay girls and women back, to make sure that they get the care and support they need to enjoy a fundamental human right at every moment of their lives, that is their right to health, said WHO director General Dr. Chan at the launch of the report, Women and Health.

Imagine living in poor health for more than 5 years, did you know that works out to be 260 days of poor health, just imagine what you would have accomplished in this time with this lack of health. I’m not suggesting women have not achieved much, however I am questioning at what cost to there health did this do.

97% of adults agree that exercise is vital to their physical and mental health BUT only 31% of Australians are active, SO 69% of Australians are not active? At least 505 individuals beginning an exercise program will drop out within six months.

If this seems familiar or not surprising to you, then take charge and make a change. While there is no shame in admitting where you are at considering the mixed messages issued through the health and fitness or diet industry. There are very few organizations actually providing realistic, effective and efficient approaches to breaking through the poor health barrier and helping people to increase energy, and vitality.

Having trained in the health and fitness industry for over a decade I have seen proof and almost an awakening that once people start they cannot believe how little time the exercise takes and produces the most efficient result. You see most people don’t exercise because of not enough time, too lazy, not knowing what to do, no desire to be active, weather, financial reasons and the list goes on. While spending there time on not doing exercise the time could be spent getting it done. The question is what is your time worth?

How much is enough?

Now remember if you have had 5 years of poor health and no exercise we’ve got a lot of catching up to do. But don’t despair because the health benefits you will now receive will far out weight the effort anytime.

I have to be honest here, like most people time is a precious commodity so let’s make use of it wisely. This is not about working out for long periods of time and following some crazy fad diet. No it’s about being realistic and to begin with progressive changes to achieve the lean, strong and healthy body you desire in just minutes per week.

You can do 2-3 workouts per week for 15-30 minutes is enough to produce results you are after to reduce poor health. I ask you if you don’t want to continue the next 5 years with poor health then I am suggesting to you this is exactly what you should be doing.

If you need further guidelines then there is no better way than to learn from people who have done it, especially if you want to fast track.

You may not realize that some of the spices and toppings that you use in your food can actually help to increase your life and overall health. Take for example the Indian spice turmeric, which has been known to have a wide variety of health benefits.

If you are looking for a simple spice that can act as a natural way to maintain your health, take a look at turmeric. Before you start looking for your supplement, make sure to check out the number 1 health benefit of turmeric.

We may not always be aware of how much bacteria is floating all around us on a daily basis. We come in contact with a lot of people as well as a lot of germs. The number 1 health benefit of turmeric is the fact that the natural spice or herb acts as a natural anti-bacterial agent. Turmeric when taken as an extract or within a supplement can help fight off any bad bacteria that you may have in your body.

When you get injured or you cut yourself and you see a doctor, your doctor will prescribe an antibiotic for you to take. Most people will simply pay the high prescription fee and buy the antibiotic from the pharmacy.

However, if you are feeling like a natural method is a lot better; turmeric is also very cost effective even when taken as an extract. You can even apply turmeric directly to a burn or a cut in order to keep the swelling down as well as any possible infection.

The fact of the matter is turmeric serves many purposes to people from all over the world. If you are looking for a natural healing agent, turmeric is the best way for you to go. Just take a look into multivitamins and see how a daily supplement can easily help protect you from infections and illnesses!