As Healthcare consumers all seeking to lower our premiums, we have come to realize that a range of alternative health measures can help achieve this goal. Saving money on health insurance has been a key priority to many Americans even prior to the arrival of Obamacare which famously failed to reduce the so called cost curve it promised. There is good news for those who take a proactive view to their health.
To demonstrate the challenge at hand: A recent article by Forbes highlighted just how inconsistent private health care charges are – it compared two hospitals in the same street in Miami, Florida. One was way above typical Brooklyn charges whereas the other was around 40% cheaper for the same service. We can refer to the House Bill 2045, a piece of legislation enacted upon in Arizona in 2013 by senator Nancy Barto, according to which large medical facilities are obliged to list out-of-pocket prices pertaining to the 50 most common medical procedures and small hospitals must provide prices for the 35 most common medical procedures. The reform itself is a significant improvement from the former model, yet this did not drive down costs as hoped.
This brings us to the question: how can alternative health practice lower our healthcare costs? Your insurer would not like to hear this, hence you may want to share this with your friends and loved ones:
1. Fitness center subscription: By attending regular workouts and proving that one belongs to a gym, it inherently reduces certain risks, particularly with regards to cardiovascular disease, thus many insurers provide a discount to members who exercise regularly. Some will include the gym fee as part of the insurance package. Starting exercise and forming a healthy habit is always recommended, even if you need to use a personal trainer at the outset.
2. Alternative diets: Whether linked to cardiovascular improvement, diabetes, cancer rehab or the improvement of any other diseases, a good alternative health diet, combined with the right exercise can actually reduce the need for expensive medicine, which is covered by health insurance. For example: Dr. Weill introduced his famous anti-inflammatory diet, which in itself reduces the need for several inflammation drugs and has been proven to reduce the risk of heart disease.
3. Eastern philosophies and medicine: It is widely believed that the abuse of not only antibiotics but an array of other drugs lead to liver problems and super resistance against many illnesses. By reducing the need for western medicine on a regular basis, especially where alternative health practitioners and homeopaths made specific recommendations, health insurance has to come down.
4. By living a healthy lifestyle: In the UK for example, patients are highly likely to contract MRSA whenever they visit a hospital – and many leave the hospitals more ill than when they arrived, due to the challenges these superbugs represent. Proactive lifestyles which boosts the immune system is another great way of avoiding frequent hospital visits.
The big 5 pharma in the US are known to have captured the majority of the healthcare market. These companies include
WellPoint, Inc.
CIGNA Health Insurance Company
Aetna
Humana
United Healthcare
You can use aggregators to check the insurance prices – they are all in a similar range. Alternative health practice has it’s place – in many cases it cannot replace the need to see a physician and visit a hospital, however preventative healthcare through a healthy lifestyle can certainly reduce health insurance costs, as health statistics have shown.
