Read the Fine Print

As I’ve mentioned in another blog, it would be a pretty amazing feat to make it into your golden years without having at least one “pre-existing medical condition.” The human body just can’t stay in peak condition until the end of one’s life, so having some medical baggage is perfectly normal for a senior. Since long term care insurance policies are designed with the elderly in mind, they are a little more lenient than other types of insurance plans when it comes to covering pre-existing medical conditions. This doesn’t mean that they welcome everyone with open arms. You need to be aware of this, and get very clear with insurance carriers about what their pre-existing medical condition clause it, get it in writing, and scrutinize every word.

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Live in Health, Locally

The easier way to know where your food is coming from is do buy local. I highly recommend seeking out articles and books about the meat industry and how food is grown and shipped in the United States, but we don’t always have the time to curl up with a good, heart-wrenching read. Instead, try and get your produce from your local farmer’s market. Talk to the growers, ask if they use pesticides (if you’re concerned about that), buy produce that’s actually in season in your climate. If you don’t have a local farmer’s market near you, when you’re at the supermarket, see if the produce sold there states where it’s from. Try and pick items that are grown in your state. when it comes to your diet being picky is a good thing.

Organic, Free-Range, and Farm Raised: Which is Healthier?

As for meat, don’t be fooled by the “organic, free-range” label. The standards for what constitutes “free range” are silly-it means that instead of being held in the stocks they can “roam” in a 3×3 space. Sounds quite luxurious, does it not? Eggs are the same story-don’t imagine that these chickens are flying all over a green field eating corn to their heart’s delight. They’re probably still pumped full of hormones and left to waddle in their obesity in their slightly larger prison, trying to peck at one another with their phantom beaks. A jail is still a jail, no matter how big the cell. Again, if you’re fortunate enough to have a local farmer’s market, ask around! I saw plenty of local farmers who were offering beautiful cuts of lamb, beef and chicken, as well as softly speckled eggs in cardboard containers. Farmers who are proud of their way their animals were raised (and slaughtered) have nothing to hide.

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You may be asking yourself “Just what in the heck are alternative therapies?” According to Northwestern Health Sciences University, alternative therapies are “Interventions for improving, maintaining and promoting health and well being, preventing disease, or treating illness. Encompassing over 200 modalities and more than 10,000 uses, alternative and complementary therapies are not part of the standard North American biomedical regimen of health care or disease prevention. Standard refers to practices commonly taught in U. S. medical schools, covered by major insurers, or referred to as allopathic or Western medicine.” This article will seek to explain some forms of alternative therapies and help you look into whether they might be the right choice for you.

Acupuncture

Do you often find yourself feeling like you’re on pins and needles? With acupuncture, you literally are. Acupuncture is a technique in which incredibly thin needles of varying lengths are inserted into your skin to help treat a variety of conditions. Although acupuncture isn’t touted as an actual treatment for cancer, studies have shown it can help in battling the nausea that comes along with chemotherapy and radiation. It aids in relieving pain after dental surgery, treating headaches, rehabilitation after strokes and helping to treat a number of different muskuloskeletal conditions. The points in which needles are inserted into your skin are called acupoints, and to keep a healthy energy flowing through the body, the needles are only inserted deep enough into the skin to keep them from falling out. If you are cringing and imagining feeling like a walking (or, laying down) pincushion: never fear. The most skilled acupuncturists do not cause any pain.

Chiropractic Care

If thinking of a visit to the chiropractor has you your head filled with visions of cracking bones and anguished faces, think again. It is a very safe and effective practice when performed by a professional. According to the American Chiropractic Association, “chiropractic is a health care profession that focuses on disorders of the musculoskeletal system and the nervous system, and the effects of these disorders on general health. Chiropractic care is used most often to treat neuromusculoskeletal complaints, including but not limited to back pain, neck pain, pain in the joints of the arms or legs, and headaches.” Although chiropractic care itself does not hurt the patient, it is common for there to be a little bit of soreness and discomfort following any procedure. One benefit to an alternative therapy like the two listed is that they do not involve any type of drugs at all, simply trying to treat any illness or ailments through addressing it as directly as possible in the body.

Reflexology

Therapy through the hands and feet? This may sound like utter voodoo (or just plain gross to some) but reflexology is a calming and effective form of an alternative therapy. Reflexology is a form of therapy that uses pressure on specific areas of the feet (or the hands) with the goal of relieving a variety of problems and balancing the flow of vital energy throughout the body. While evidence does not support reflexology for a treatment for something serious like cancer, it has been shown to help with relaxation and relieve certain types of pain and anxiety. The theory behind reflexology is that there are certain points on the hands and feet that are associated with other body parts and organs. When these points on the hands and feet are stimulated, it is though t promote health and well being in the related body parts.

While alternative therapies tend not to be covered under standard health insurance packages, some companies will offer them at a slightly higher co-pay. If you are interested in learning more about these therapies and if they are available through your insurance provider, contact them today to find out more.

photo credit: Thunderchild tm

Politicians and decision makers seem to be worried that if we make cannabis legal for medicinal use, then it will become in higher demand and people would abuse the drug more than is happening now. The Institute of Medicine (someone I’d be highly included to trust based on name alone) released a report in 1999 on medical marijuana examining whether the medical use of marijuana would lead to an increase of marijuana use in the general population and concluded that, “At this point there is no convincing data to support this concern. The existing data is consistent with the idea that this would not be a problem if the medical use of marijuana were as closely regulated as other medications with abuse potential.” The report also noted that, “this question is beyond the issues normally considered for medical uses of drugs, and should not be a factor in evaluating the therapeutic potential of marijuana or cannabinoids.”

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Cost sharing, when you first hear it, might sound like a good thing. Something to help lessen the burden of costs you’re being socked with for your health insurance. Unfortunately, cost sharing in the United States often ends up to the detriment of the consumer, as health insurance companies raise their rates and have to ask consumers to pay a higher portion of what services cost. Sometimes insurance companies have to raise the rates for employers, who then have to turn around and raise the co-pays for their employers. It’s a vicious cycle, but other countries around the world have developed models to help lower and limit cost sharing that falls on the shoulder of consumers, and the United States might do very well to look into these models and implement them here. Especially with things as they are in our current economy, anything that can be done to keep hitting already weighed-down consumers with more costs should be a high priority.

What Exactly IS Cost Sharing in Health Insurance?

There are a few key specific points to understand when looking at the role cost sharing plays in health insurance. Direct forms of cost sharing between consumers and health insurance providers are things like the following: co-payments (what you pay per service), coinsurance (a percentage of the charge that you have to pay) and deductibles (the amount you have to pay out of your own pocket before coverage begins. This can be on all services or you can have a certain deductible on a type of procedure). Indirect cost sharing isn’t typically included in the standard definition of cost sharing in insurance, but they still cost consumers money and come right out of your pocket. These can be things like: charges when you go to see an out-of-network doctor, going to a specialist before seeing a primary care physician and being charged full price for that, any health services not covered by your insurance plan and health care premiums.

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Your kindly neighborhood pediatrician may be trying to get you to vaccinate your child this year against the flu virus. Maybe you’re already skeptical about whether the shot does any good for those receiving it, and you may be recoiling in horror as your baby’s doctor tries to inject your infant at just six months old. Such is the disturbing trend popping up by doctors who are a part of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Read on to learn about this organization’s drive to vaccinate babies and children, whether the shot has been proven helpful or not.

Flu Shots: Necessary Evil?

No parent likes to see their baby get shots-the screaming, the crying, the tears of despair over getting stuck with that big, mean needle. Studies have shown in recent years that the flu shot might not be necessary for keeping people healthy, unless the people in question are the elderly and infirmed or the very young and sickly. If you have a child, you may be hearing the AAP’s outcry that children from 6 months of age all the way up to 18 year olds should be required to have an annual flu shot. Well, for helpless babies at 6 months of age, this may have some validity. However, for children and especially teenagers, studies have shown that the flu vaccine only works in about 1% of the studied population. For parents who don’t want any unnecessary drugs injected into their little one’s bodies, this new insistence may raise more than a few hackles.

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