Maintaining your health now will pay off in the long run

Do understand who is in charge of your health

Priorities regarding health insurance usually come from corporate and/or department goals. If you are a small business, it might be determined by employee feedback but it’s usually centered about how to cut costs. The point is employer objectives are different from yours. Don’t follow the crowd just because they do it. If you don’t take care of your health you’ll get what’s coming and it’s not good.

Do understand the financial costs

Most 65 and older, were fortunate to have Medicare and a supplemental to pay their medical bills, while 80 percent of medical bills are covered by Medicare, the purchase of a supplement is an ongoing out of pocket expense. Those less well off have Medicaid. Those with Medicare alone are stuck with 20 percent of the yearly bill.

Medicare was supposed to protect the elderly from financial catastrophe. Medical costs have since skyrocketed and the elderly now end up paying more out of pocket because they use more of the services. Various proposals to save Medicare increase out of pocket patient costs through higher deductibles, co-pays and do not cover services such as eye glasses, hearing aids, homecare services and equipment and non-rehabilitative nursing home care.

The higher out of pocket spending for health care makes some patients skip needed services and medications in favor of more essential goods such as food and housing. Not using medications because of out of pocket cost increases nursing home admissions and use of emergency room services thereby increasing the out of pocket expense in the long run. Adults who have Medicare part D still pay an average ongoing monthly expenditure of $83 for prescription medications.

Do be a healthy statistic

As the US population ages the incidence of chronic disease increases. Over 14 million people have diabetes, and that number increases every year. Those with diabetes have a greater chance of having chronic kidney disease or cardiovascular disease. Data from Medicare show that 29 percent receive care for one chronic condition, 12.7 percent for two conditions, and 7.6 percent for three or more conditions such as cancer, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, and heart disease. An additional 20 percent seek care for mental illness or depression. Depression is common among people with chronic diseases and probably reflects the mental strain of a multi-disease burden. Those with any one chronic disease are 3.1 times more likely to be admitted to the hospital while those with three or more chronic conditions are 26.9 times more likely to spend time in the hospital to get their care thereby increasing their overall out of pocket expense. Those with three or more chronic conditions spend out of pocket an average of $32,498 yearly.

According to the U.S. General Accounting Office Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias affect 11 percent of the elderly. This diagnosis frequently requires nursing home care as patients are not able to care for themselves. Medicare and private insurance coverage for these services is limited, so spending on long-term care represents the largest share of out of pocket costs for such Medicare recipients. Patients with dementia spend more than $8,216 out of pocket yearly than those with normal cognition. Consequently, patients suffering from dementia, Parkinson’s or other neurological disease are at high risk of incurring very large out of pocket expenditures until they have “spent down” their assets to become eligible for Medicaid.

Do think ahead of what’s coming

The yearly medical care cost for those who choose to smoke is 35 percent more than for those who do not. Similarly a body mass index above 23 percent increases the cost of care due to an increasing chance of chronic disease such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers.
These out of pocket related expenses are higher among patients with cancer than among those with other conditions with 21 percent reporting difficulty paying for necessary health care. A recent study showed that of the people with chronic illness or with family members who had a chronic illness, 30 percent had problems paying medical bills, 16 percent used up all or most of their personal savings, 12 percent were unable to pay for basic necessities and 5% declared bankruptcy. Of people with cancer, the financial situation was even worse with one out of every six patients withholding cancer treatment because of cost.

Another study noted that 10–16 percent of terminally ill patients or their families had to take out a loan, spend their savings, or obtain an additional job to cover medical care costs. A separate study found that 31 percent of families with seriously ill patients used up all or most of their personal savings.

In addition to the ongoing costs of chronic illness, the reported average out of pocket spending in the 5 years prior to death is $38,688 for individuals and $51,030 for couples if one of them dies. Overall, 25 percent of them spent more than the total of their household assets and in 43 percent the spending surpassed their non-housing assets.

It is reported that a 65-year old couple needs about $215,000 to cover their estimated future out of pocket health care costs, yet most only have $90,000. Because of this difference one in four Americans report problems paying for health care, and one in three delay getting needed health care due to cost. Over 50 percent of all bankruptcies involve substantial health care debt, even though 76 percent had health insurance at the time of illness.

Do not think health comes from health insurance

Don’t assume that you can get health from your “sick care” insurance, you won’t. Look outside of your insurance plan and get healthy from any source that you can. Remember a healthy diet and regular exercise may not add any cost, but chronic disease will take it all. Ask your doctor to guide you in the right direction to get healthy.

Do not treat symptoms

Don’t treat the symptoms and instead treat the cause of your poor health. Take proactive steps to avoid chronic disease by eating healthy, getting enough exercise, and getting your hormones balanced so that chronic disease can be postponed or avoided entirely. In the long run, you will also improve your financial well being due to reduced medical and prescription costs. Ask our doctors at the Wellness and Hormone Clinics of America about the exact things that you need to do to get healthy and off prescription medications.

Do not eat processed foods

Poor eating habits containing processed nutrient poor foods produce chronic disease. Don’t plan to spend your money on walkers and co-pays of chronic care. Spend it now to gain health and avoid chronic disease later. Invest your money in eating healthy organic non-processed foods and exercise. It will save you money and pain in the long run.

Do not wait, but decide to do something about it

If you don’t do take care of your health now by checking your hormones and nutrient deficiencies you’ll pay for it later. Chronic disease is what shows up when you don’t make a plan to get health. Look in your local area for a primary care physician that will help you achieve your goals, and a hormone doctor that will help you balance your hormones.