Friday, May 1, 2009

What is Health Insurance?

In the United States this seems to be a promise by an insurer or health plan to pay for health care services in exchange for a combination of co-payments and premiums. However from a coverage perspective, it seems like the majority of insurers emphasize reactive care instead of proactive or preventative care. In other words, the insurers are will pay for over the counter drugs and medical procedures that address the symptoms of all sorts of disease. However, they rarely or in most cases never will pay for nutritional supplementation and exercise equipment or gym dues that could help prevent disease by keeping people's bodies healthy and well nourished.

On the nutrition front, I personally have benefited greatly from taking glyconutrients, great food sourced multi-vitamins, and other natural sources of intelligent nutritional supplementation. Good sources for these items isn't cheap. However to me, the quality of life that results from good nutrition is worth the investment. If I were to estimate how much money that I have saved by not having to go to the doctor for things other than a well check visit since I started my personal pilgrimage back in 2006, I would say it was well worth every penny. If the United States health care system took the same approach, I wonder how much healthier and happier the citizens of the US would be? Interestingly enough, even the Journal of The American Medical Association says that ALL Adults Should Take Vitamins.

On the exercise front, it isn't a good idea to pay for exercise equipment nor gym memberships without accountability. However, if insurers could hold people accountable for exercising on a regular basis, the health benefits and disease prevention would most likely be well worth the investment.

Given that the United States of America ranks 37th in the world for health care, you would think that insurers would be the main constituency that want to reduce costs by promoting prevention. That's my opinion at least.

If you would like to learn about the nutrients that have benefited me, contact me.

I hope that you and yours have a healthy and happy day!

Brad