{"id":1982,"date":"2009-03-05T13:25:05","date_gmt":"2009-03-05T19:25:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/?p=1982"},"modified":"2021-10-10T10:41:38","modified_gmt":"2021-10-10T15:41:38","slug":"saving-a-bundle-on-your-health-care-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/03\/05\/saving-a-bundle-on-your-health-care-part-3","title":{"rendered":"Saving A Bundle on Your Health Care, Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Click here<\/a> for the Health Tip link.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s say that you\u2019re among the numerous unemployed whose COBRA benefits are expiring. Or you\u2019re among the under-employed who aren\u2019t eligible for your employer\u2019s health insurance. For the first time in your life, you realize you don\u2019t have health insurance. Maybe you lie awake at night wondering what you\u2019ll do if you or a family member gets sick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People without health insurance can be divided into two broad groups: those that are healthy and those with chronic health problems. This health tip will focus on the first, the \u201cworried well.\u201d In an upcoming tip we\u2019ll discuss the second group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re healthy, the odds are very much in your favor that you\u2019ll stay that way. You\u2019ll likely live a nice long life and, if you play your cards right, you can do so without doctors, prescription drugs, lab tests, hospitals, and all the other trappings of my profession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But you do need to cover yourself in the unlikely event that a health catastrophe occurs. Essentially, this means covering potential hospitalization costs, which can quickly eviscerate your savings, your dwindled 401K, your condo, and everything else you own. For this, I recommend you buy what\u2019s called \u201ctraditional health insurance\u201d–the coverage people had pre-1975, before the health insurance industry became the cash-cow darling of Wall Street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To determine your coverage needs, begin by looking at your bank account balance. Ask yourself, \u201cWhat\u2019s the largest amount that I could afford to spend in the very unlikely event that I need to be hospitalized?\u201d That number is your deductible. You\u2019d also be responsible for a certain percent of charges (usually 20%) up to a certain maximum (usually $1,000 to $5,000). This is called the co-pay. The larger the number you agree in advance to pay out-of-pocket, the lower the cost of your health insurance, or your premium. The \u201cI want everything covered\u201d policies are very expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can find a quote on traditional health insurance here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This link is to Blue Cross Blue\/Shield of Illinois. Understand I have no great love for any health insurance company, including BC\/BS. But Blue Cross being a not-for-profit means they don\u2019t have a passel of shareholders willing to vote for anything reprehensible in the name of corporate profit-taking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you enter your personal data and click \u201cFind a Quote,\u201d skip the \u201cTop Three Bestsellers\u201d (the ones they want you to buy) and go to \u201cCompare all Eleven Plans.\u201d Not surprisingly, the one at the very bottom of the list is traditional health insurance and it\u2019s not insanely expensive (about the same as auto insurance, actually). The health insurance industry doesn\u2019t make much money on traditional policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do realize, though, that traditional health insurance is not going to pay for your sore throat, minor aches, pains, mammogram, or Pap smear. You won\u2019t be able to get an annual check-up with all the tests for a $20 co-pay like you did when your employer provided more expensive insurance. For routine office visits, you\u2019ll pay out-of-pocket. Your policy also won\u2019t cover prescription drugs, which you probably don\u2019t need anyway. But think about it. You don\u2019t buy auto insurance to cover your car\u2019s oil changes or the mechanic\u2019s diagnosis every time your engine makes a funny noise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, it\u2019s possible learning to live with less coverage might help you learn something about yourself and your body. For example, you might discover that most symptoms and illnesses go away by themselves. The old saying \u201cdoctors exist to entertain patients while nature takes its course\u201d is true. Your strained back, cold, or upset stomach will last maybe two weeks with or without a doctor. If things get worse rather than better, you can always go to your primary care doctor (or one of the mini-clinics at Walgreen\u2019s or CVS) and get a generic prescription drug.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even most longstanding symptoms aren\u2019t signs of lurking disease. They\u2019re usually the everyday discomforts of having a body, messages from within, letting you know you\u2019re behaving in a way your body doesn\u2019t like. Most headaches are caused by stress. Heartburn (re-named the more expensive-sounding reflux esophagitis) doesn\u2019t need a gastroenterologist, gastroscopy, and Nexium at $120 a month. It\u2019s usually just your body pleading for you to stop overeating late at night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Symptoms of actual significant illness are different. These get progressively worse in a relatively brief period of time (weeks rather than months). Symptoms like this do need attention. But bear in mind that when you think you need a doctor, your primary care doctor is much less expensive than a specialist. Emergency rooms are the most expensive of all. If your health insurance company decides to deny your emergency room visit as medically unnecessary, you may find you owe $5,000 for the visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only can you learn to live without doctors checking you for every symptom that pops up, you certainly can do without most prescription drugs. Natural products can be used for many common symptoms and when you do need a prescription drug, you can get a generic version of just about anything at Costco for pennies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To gain some perspective on our current situation, let\u2019s go back to pre-1975, and find out what people did before the current healthcare crisis. How did your parents or grandparents handle health care costs? Likely\u2026
1. They bought their own Blue Cross hospitalization insurance. The for-profit insurance companies simply didn\u2019t exist as a significant industry before 1975.
2. They didn\u2019t seek medical attention for every symptom.
3. They virtually never saw a specialist unless referred by their family doctor who, to the embarrassment of today\u2019s doctors, could handle lots of procedures (from minor surgery to delivering babies) on his or her own.
4. They rarely saw the family doctor and when they did, they paid in cash. Can you imagine never having to call and fight with an insurance company? They never did.
5. They rarely took prescription drugs.
6. They used the neighborhood pharmacist as an adjunct health care provider (\u201cWhat should I take for my\u2026?\u201d).
7. They certainly weren\u2019t exposed to as much health news as we are today. There were no headline-grabbing \u201cnews\u201d stories on TV, no physician-as-nanny personalities badgering them about how to behave, and definitely no commercials for prescription drugs. Plus, physician advertising was illegal (really!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this, people were reasonably healthy until their 70s, when various chronic illnesses started to appear (hastened along because many smoked, didn\u2019t exercise, and ate too much, but you know better. OK, some health badgering does pay off).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what I\u2019m trying to say is this: faced with the specter of \u201cno health insurance,\u201d take a deep breath. You need some cheap traditional coverage for the unexpected hospitalization and a major attitude shift. You\u2019ve made it this far and you\u2019re still alive. Take good care of yourself–your body is good at self-healing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be well,
David Edelberg, MD<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Click here for the Health Tip link. Let\u2019s say that you\u2019re among the numerous unemployed whose COBRA benefits are expiring. Or you\u2019re among the under-employed who aren\u2019t eligible for your employer\u2019s health insurance. For the first time in your life, you realize you don\u2019t have health insurance. Maybe you lie awake at night wondering what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2087,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,67,203,3],"tags":[181,627,628],"class_list":["post-1982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-h","category-health-insurance-issues","category-knowledge-base","tag-editorial","tag-insurance-plans","tag-staying-healthy"],"yoast_head":"\r\nSaving A Bundle on Your Health Care, Part 3<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"People without health insurance can be divided into two broad groups: those that are healthy and those with chronic health problems.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/03\/05\/saving-a-bundle-on-your-health-care-part-3\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Saving A Bundle on Your Health Care, Part 3\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"People without health insurance can be divided into two broad groups: those that are healthy and those with chronic health problems.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/03\/05\/saving-a-bundle-on-your-health-care-part-3\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"WholeHealth Chicago\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/wholehealthchicago\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-03-05T19:25:05+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-10T15:41:38+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"wholehealthchicago\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@wholehealthchi\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@wholehealthchi\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"wholehealthchicago\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/03\/05\/saving-a-bundle-on-your-health-care-part-3\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/03\/05\/saving-a-bundle-on-your-health-care-part-3\",\"name\":\"Saving A Bundle on Your Health Care, Part 3\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-03-05T19:25:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-10T15:41:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8f28cef347f94e6801d2bdd38b9cea19\"},\"description\":\"People without health insurance can be divided into two broad groups: those that are healthy and those with chronic health problems.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/03\/05\/saving-a-bundle-on-your-health-care-part-3#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/03\/05\/saving-a-bundle-on-your-health-care-part-3\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/03\/05\/saving-a-bundle-on-your-health-care-part-3#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Saving A Bundle on Your Health Care, Part 3\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"WholeHealth Chicago\",\"description\":\"WholeHealth Chicago is the Midwest's oldest and most respected center for integrative care, successfully blending the latest advances in conventional medicine with a wide range of clinically proven alternative therapies.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8f28cef347f94e6801d2bdd38b9cea19\",\"name\":\"wholehealthchicago\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b63bce17acaeb51f185933c60fa6fa86c347679a70b79ec51e5b772e271a469f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b63bce17acaeb51f185933c60fa6fa86c347679a70b79ec51e5b772e271a469f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"wholehealthchicago\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/author\/wholehealthchicago\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Saving A Bundle on Your Health Care, Part 3","description":"People without health insurance can be divided into two broad groups: those that are healthy and those with chronic health problems.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/03\/05\/saving-a-bundle-on-your-health-care-part-3","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Saving A Bundle on Your Health Care, Part 3","og_description":"People without health insurance can be divided into two broad groups: those that are healthy and those with chronic health problems.","og_url":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/03\/05\/saving-a-bundle-on-your-health-care-part-3","og_site_name":"WholeHealth Chicago","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/wholehealthchicago","article_published_time":"2009-03-05T19:25:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-10-10T15:41:38+00:00","author":"wholehealthchicago","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@wholehealthchi","twitter_site":"@wholehealthchi","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"wholehealthchicago","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/03\/05\/saving-a-bundle-on-your-health-care-part-3","url":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/03\/05\/saving-a-bundle-on-your-health-care-part-3","name":"Saving A Bundle on Your Health Care, Part 3","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-03-05T19:25:05+00:00","dateModified":"2021-10-10T15:41:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8f28cef347f94e6801d2bdd38b9cea19"},"description":"People without health insurance can be divided into two broad groups: those that are healthy and those with chronic health problems.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/03\/05\/saving-a-bundle-on-your-health-care-part-3#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/03\/05\/saving-a-bundle-on-your-health-care-part-3"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/03\/05\/saving-a-bundle-on-your-health-care-part-3#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Saving A Bundle on Your Health Care, Part 3"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/","name":"WholeHealth Chicago","description":"WholeHealth Chicago is the Midwest's oldest and most respected center for integrative care, successfully blending the latest advances in conventional medicine with a wide range of clinically proven alternative therapies.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8f28cef347f94e6801d2bdd38b9cea19","name":"wholehealthchicago","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b63bce17acaeb51f185933c60fa6fa86c347679a70b79ec51e5b772e271a469f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b63bce17acaeb51f185933c60fa6fa86c347679a70b79ec51e5b772e271a469f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"wholehealthchicago"},"url":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/author\/wholehealthchicago"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2087"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1982"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1982\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29705,"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1982\/revisions\/29705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}