Joanna’s recent comments inspired me to keep reporting on my experience pursuing health. Insulin resistance and perimenopause are still challenges for me. The consequences, being uncomfortable, are very difficult to ignore, so my health is always on my mind. I am continuing to work on it but the path is by no means linear. Practical concerns intervene. Little details of the health care system find their way into my decision-making at every level. I made great improvements since January when I was first diagnosed. I carved out some time, money, and energy to adjust to my new diet and all the accompanying changes. But life is not static. I needed to move on with the rest of life too! Some of my good habits and good results have weathered the changes but some have not. Some good habits I have redoubled after the slip, but without regaining the previous level of good results. The pursuit continues.
As I am sure you know, health insurance in the U.S. is not secure, being tied to one’s employer, if it is even offered. I can attest to that. As I move toward massage therapy as my primary occupation, I am faced with losing mine, which I currently have through a retail employer. Most massage therapists are responsible for their own health care. The nature of the job just does not lend itself easily to traditional models for health insurance. The last time I purchased my own health insurance, it was around $220/month. Above and beyond that price are are deductables, copays and exceptions. Things like alternative medicine are not even covered. For example, I paid my Naturopath out of my pocket. As a result, I have not been able to afford much follow-up. Still, she gave me answers where conventional medicine came up empty.
As I plan to switch insurance providers, I think twice about going to the doctor. I don’t want to find any new issues, because those might later be considered pre-existing and therefore not covered. Or it could prevent me from finding coverage at all. Here’s an example: Today, I went to see a DO (Doctor of Osteopathy) and didn’t give my insurance card to the office manager until after I read the report. It didn’t seem to show anything I think will harm my chances to get good coverage at decent rates, so I paid the $200 fee for service and agreed to have the report submitted so that I might get some of that back.
I happen to have $200 right now because I am working 6 days/week, 40+ hours/week. That schedule seems reasonable until you consider that these are literally all “on the feet” hours doing massage and retail. Not sustainable!!!! Still, I am holding on to that retail job. I like seeing ends meet for a change and the debt from the winter being payed down. Also, only time will tell if my massage job alone will be able to cover my bills. Finally, just how much I will have to put aside on my own to equal the benefits I have enjoyed through my retail employer? So you can see how, in calculating my next move, the equation can get drawn out and complicated.
How long can I keep up with my current schedule? All I know is I have to have an action plan for managing my helath. As the Holidays approach, the pace at both jobs ramps up considerably. Something is going to give if I don’t make changes now. And what did I go see this doctor for today? Aches and pains from working too hard of course!!!!!!!
When I think about what I could do if I didn’t have to worry about the cost of health insurance, I feel sad for all the other people whose unrealized talents are latent, postponed, and dulled for the sake of survival. I am sure I would feel more free to move on with my life’s goals rather than clinging to a job I’ve outgrown. Perhaps some of us would create more jobs in turn. I feel sad for all of us for loosing those contributions to society. That is the true cost of healthcare.
What is healthcare in Australia like, by the way?
About the Author...
Audrey's first love is massage. She is currently a student of energy work but is always up for a new challenge on "earth school." Audrey works part-time in the food and wine industry and is in the process of re-evaluating her relationship to food. She strives, above all, to be authentic as she finds her own way to health.
Dec 19th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
Hi Audry!
I was really interested to read your post. I really feel for your sorry sickness system you have in America and while am sickened by our Governments lack of initiative to see the writing on the wall by following down the same path as America has done with its sickness system, I can safely say we have a fabulous sickness system compared with most countries around the world.
I call it as sickness system as it is solely based on treating sickness rather than preventative health initiatives. But will many private insurance companies are starting to cover more conventional alternative therapies like; naturopaths, massage etc, its still quite based in the sickness end rather than preventative.
But the one great thing about our system is that you dont have to have insurance to be covered. We pay a small portion of our tax to our Medicare system that runs our emergency hospitals throughout the country, albiet in quite a run down state of affairs these days, but needless to say we can walk into any emergency hospital and get treatment - even if you might have to wait up to 24 hours to be seen on a busy day.
I for one, have objected to taking out private medical insurance. Mainly because for every person that leaves the public system, it decreases the buying power of Medicare and therefore their ability to bulk purchase quality products and services from health professionals. I am also lucky that i’ve never had too many health dilemas and hopefully through an additive, chemical and pesticide free diet, i wont have to in the future for many years to come.
Luckily our sickness services, while are creaping up in costs, are still a long way behind (thankfully) that of America and other countries that have privatised all their services.
Actually I really hope that Obama has the guts to reform your sickness sytem into one that takes it back to a Medicare type system similar to one we have in Australia. He seems to be your country’s first real hope of any such reform to your sickness system. But as in Australian as America, they are a very powerful loby group who dont want the status quo changed. They dont want to see people eating properly and introducing prevenative measures to stop them from being sick, as they just make so much money out of not only the sickness industry, but also the drug dealers - sorry, pharmaceutical industry making a killing out of forcing badly designed and poorly tested drugs onto drug pushers - sorry Doctor’s tables and saying taking pills is the way to fix the problems, not changing the diet of the person to stop the problem from happening.
Its really turned into a sad and sorry industry, one of the most corrupt in the world. I am so angry at the way we’ve been misinformed by our so called Health Departments with all the wrong information about eating correctly, that i’ve decided to start up an Organic Wholefoods shop. My shop wont be your traditional “Health Food Shop” that basically sells crap that should be banned (see the article http://goodhealthnaturally.nourished.com.au/the-most-unhealthy-foods-in-your-supermarket-part-2/) which clearly shows most of the items sold in Supermarket Health Food isles and most Health Food Shops should be banned for their contents and what they do to further destroy people’s health. My shop will focus on 1. Additive Free - as i think this is number one for maintaining health - once you’ve gone back to basics you cant get it wrong - a great book to read is “Changing Habits, Changing Lives” - by Cyndi O’Meara (you can purchase online at http://www.changinghabits.com.au or maybe http://www.amazon.com. This has been the most powerful book I’ve read this year. She lives by this method, and can attest that at 49 years of age, both herself, her husband and their three kids; 16, 18 and 20, have NEVER had a single prescription or non-prescription drug, any injection of any kind (including kids usual shots) and have never had a single incident in their lives. 2. Chemical & Pesticide free - often harder if you cant source good organic fruit & vege all year round, but something I am very passion about doing.
Anyway I wish you well in your quest to find the answers we are all seeking to get to that perfect health balance we need!
Cheers
Corinne