The New York Times just came out with an article on how "organic" really isn't "organic" in many cases. This was no surprise to me, but apparently the columnist was shocked to find this out.
It's a good article. It reinforces what I've decided to do with my own grocery shopping. Yes, I'm the shopper in the family. My wife used to do almost all the shopping, but she is such a bargain hunter that she would usually spend about 4-5 hours a week just traipsing from store to store, so we decided that I should be the shopper. I quite enjoy it.
I found out about the "organic gap" several years ago. To me, as usual, the government is a major problem. The Bush administration (and previous admins) are happy to bend to industry's demands, the the big industrial food producers would like government standards that say that anything and everything is organic, so they can plaster the stickers on their food and charge more.
This is inevitable. The organic sticker on food will never mean much, even though there are supposedly USDA standards for it. Industry will always have its way.
For me, the trick is to shift my allegiance from the producer to the retailer. The producers will find ways to put organic labels on their food through legal sleight-of-hand, with the USDA and FDA in close cooperation.
But retailing is a different story. If I could only find a retailer who prides themselves on selling only the least harmful food, with the least exposure to pssticides, herbicides, with no GMOs, with as close to "true organic" processes as possible.
Yes, Daryl, there is such a retailer. It's called Whole Foods Market.
Whole Foods has a two-part strategy for taking ownership of this retail space. First, they widely position themselves as the grocery store that specializes in natural, organic food, and they clearly indicate the food in their store that is NOT organic by USDA standards. However, these supposedly non-organic foods are often safer than food labeled as organic by the big producers.
The second part of their strategy is to investigate the suppliers, not to "take their word for it." Whole Foods has a policy of visiting their suppliers and ensuring that the processes are still in place to produce the best, healthiest, least harmful food possible.
To me, this is the solution. Yes, Whole Foods has been slammed for various "infringements" of healthy food sales. But in the cases I've been able to find, it is mostly from people who think Whole Foods shouldn't sell anything with sugar, or should abandon their meat sales and go completely vegan, etc. In other words, various food religious wars played out on the supermarket store floor.
What I haven't heard is any Whole Foods products testing positive for pssticides, herbicides or GMOs. If this happens, Whole Foods reputation would go down the drain and they'd be just like any other big grocer. They can't afford for that to happen. And so far, it hasn't.
I watched a movie called "Touch and Go" a few months ago. It's an ice hockey drama with Michael Keaton done back in 1986. In it, Keaton's character is asked "Who do you trust?" He replies "I find the people who have the same goals as me, and I trust them."
I think this is such a great statement. Obviously, a person should be more trusting than that, but if someone has the same goal as you do, that's a good indicator that you can trust them.
I think Whole Foods has the same goal as me, with different reasons. I want a grocery store that will sell me the best, healthy food. That's my goal. And Whole Foods wants to sell me that. Not just because they're altruistically wanting the best for me, but because their entire reputation as a retailer relies on this happening. If I found out their food had a bunch of pesticides or GMOs, I would be so disappointed, and so would 100% of their customers. Their business depends on it. And that's makes me comfortable shopping there.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Friday, July 28, 2006
Paul Zane Pilzer and Wellness
Paul Zane Pilzer's book "The Wellness Revolution - How to Make a Fortune in the Next Trillion Dollar Industry" is a page-turner. When I first bought this book, shortly after it came out in 2003, I literally didn't go to bed until I had read the whole thing.
This book changed my life.
For one thing, it changed my approach to health insurance. Pilzer introduced me to the Health Savings Account (then called the Medical Savings Account) and actually motivated me to write my own book on the HSA.
As Pilzer says, the HSA changes everything. It puts the day-to-day decisions of your healthcare back into your lap. Not with the insurance company.
Look at what happens today with most people. I want to do something about my waistline, so I go to my doctor (because he's in my insurance network, so it's just a $15 co-pay). The doctor says "Here, take this drug" because this drug is covered by my insurance company. Or, so we thought. It turns out, it's a little too new, so my insurance company complains that the doctor should have used an older, cheaper drug and they don't pay me for the prescription. Damn it!
Then I find there are some serious side-effects to this drug. My stomach is constantly upset, I have headaches I didn't have before, my vision is becoming blurry sometimes. What the hell! Yes, I'm starting to lose some pounds, but do I really want that at the expense of all these other symptoms? I start to get discouraged and I quit taking the drug. I go back to the doctor and ask for something else. He gives me a different drug and we start again.
Here I've made a series of bad decisions, in retrospect. First of all, doctors are not very knowledgeable about weight loss. Second, taking a drug to lose weight is helping with the symptom (overweight) but not with the cause (eating too much, wrong foods, toxic colon, don't exercise, etc.). And I'm making all these decisions BECAUSE it's covered by insurance.
But what if I had a high-deductible health plan, let's say $5,000? What would my decisions be then for this annoying but not immediately life-threatening problem?
Well, for me, I would probably take a much longer term view. First, I'd probably go to see a naturopathic physician instead of an MD. They know much more about weight loss. Second, they would NEVER give me a drug for weight loss, they'd help me change my habits (exercise, eating, toxicity, etc.). THe prescriptions would be herbs, etc. not drugs. Thus, the side-effects would be minimized or non-existant.
And, if I stuck to them, they would work in most cases. Plus, I've addressed the causes, not just the symptoms.
The Health Savings Account (HSA) gives us a way to have a high-deductible health plan without the risk. You can put savings into the HSA each year, and build it up until you have enough to cover your high deductible. If your yearly deductible is $5,000, you'd need to have $5,000 in your HSA. You can take as long as you want to build that up, or you can do it all at once.
In Pilzer's book, he takes us through this logic, and shows how it will push us all towards more holistic options. In essence, using this financial vehicle, the HSA, can actually MAKE YOU HEALTHIER! How amazing is that?
Pilzer takes us through all the business opportunities in this field. From food (organic, etc.) to insurance to what he calls "wellness distribution," the chances are good to make money in these areas.
I think Pilzer has done an amazing public service with this book. He changed my own thinking so much it shifted my own insurance approach, my healthcare approach and even my own businesses. I can't think of too many books that have had that kind of impact on me in my life, maybe 1 or 2.
However, let me say what I found wrong with Pilzer's book too.
Pilzer comes from the multi-level marketing community, he's written several books in that ilk. To me, the MLM or network marketing approach IS NOT the wave of the future. There are too many companies in this area that operate unscrupulously, and as a result, the whole sector stinks to high heaven. Yes, I know there are a few good MLM companies, but I do not think they are representative of MLM.
Having said that, I'm happy to report that Pilzer does not stress the MLM aspect a whole lot in Wellness Revolution. The undertone is there, even in the subtitle "Make Your Fortune..." but he doesn't harp on it.
And I feel the overall focus of the book, rather than showing how we could "make our fortune" could have been more instructive if it was focused on what the consumer could do to switch to this lifestyle effectively.
That is where I decided to go with my book "Health Insurance Off the Grid - A Wonderful Way to Use Alternative Medicine and Save Money on Insurance Using the New Health Savings Account (HSA)."
I took Pilzer's ideas and changed the perspective from the businessperson to the consumer. My audience is especially the holistic consumer. The person who is interested in holistic healthcare options, like naturopathy, yoga, acupuncture, etc. - but doesn't use it much because it "isn't covered by my insurance."
I would also say that my audience is exactly the set of people who are underserved by insurance today - self-employed, underinsured, uninsured. These people benefit most from my book, and from the whole HSA approach.
Another big problem I have with Pilzer's book "Wellness Revolution" is that he overestimates the wellness industry. He includes services like Lasik eye surgery, cosmetics, proactive MRI/CAT scanning salons, etc. in wellness. To me, these are ABSOLUTELY NOT WELLNESS. These services are not about "staying well." They are either fixes (eye surgery) or they are early detection of disease. Not wellness. For my definitions of wellness, as well as alternative medicine, etc. please see this earlier blog post.
Since releasing my book in 2004, which is now in its second edition, Pilzer has written another book which I also want to review here. It's called "The New Health Insurance Solution." Again, it is an excellent book, maybe even better than the Wellness Revolution. But, with this book, he leaves out the all-important piece of holistic healthcare, and just focused on how to construct your high deductible health plan and your HSA. Incredibly valuable information, to be sure, but I feel my book still provides the missing link between his two books.
I promise to review this other book on this blog very soon. I have lots to say about it too!
Paul Zane Pilzer, whatever you want to say about his network marketing side, has been an extremely influential writer for me. I hope you decide to read "Wellness Revolution" too.
This book changed my life.
For one thing, it changed my approach to health insurance. Pilzer introduced me to the Health Savings Account (then called the Medical Savings Account) and actually motivated me to write my own book on the HSA.
As Pilzer says, the HSA changes everything. It puts the day-to-day decisions of your healthcare back into your lap. Not with the insurance company.
Look at what happens today with most people. I want to do something about my waistline, so I go to my doctor (because he's in my insurance network, so it's just a $15 co-pay). The doctor says "Here, take this drug" because this drug is covered by my insurance company. Or, so we thought. It turns out, it's a little too new, so my insurance company complains that the doctor should have used an older, cheaper drug and they don't pay me for the prescription. Damn it!
Then I find there are some serious side-effects to this drug. My stomach is constantly upset, I have headaches I didn't have before, my vision is becoming blurry sometimes. What the hell! Yes, I'm starting to lose some pounds, but do I really want that at the expense of all these other symptoms? I start to get discouraged and I quit taking the drug. I go back to the doctor and ask for something else. He gives me a different drug and we start again.
Here I've made a series of bad decisions, in retrospect. First of all, doctors are not very knowledgeable about weight loss. Second, taking a drug to lose weight is helping with the symptom (overweight) but not with the cause (eating too much, wrong foods, toxic colon, don't exercise, etc.). And I'm making all these decisions BECAUSE it's covered by insurance.
But what if I had a high-deductible health plan, let's say $5,000? What would my decisions be then for this annoying but not immediately life-threatening problem?
Well, for me, I would probably take a much longer term view. First, I'd probably go to see a naturopathic physician instead of an MD. They know much more about weight loss. Second, they would NEVER give me a drug for weight loss, they'd help me change my habits (exercise, eating, toxicity, etc.). THe prescriptions would be herbs, etc. not drugs. Thus, the side-effects would be minimized or non-existant.
And, if I stuck to them, they would work in most cases. Plus, I've addressed the causes, not just the symptoms.
The Health Savings Account (HSA) gives us a way to have a high-deductible health plan without the risk. You can put savings into the HSA each year, and build it up until you have enough to cover your high deductible. If your yearly deductible is $5,000, you'd need to have $5,000 in your HSA. You can take as long as you want to build that up, or you can do it all at once.
In Pilzer's book, he takes us through this logic, and shows how it will push us all towards more holistic options. In essence, using this financial vehicle, the HSA, can actually MAKE YOU HEALTHIER! How amazing is that?
Pilzer takes us through all the business opportunities in this field. From food (organic, etc.) to insurance to what he calls "wellness distribution," the chances are good to make money in these areas.
I think Pilzer has done an amazing public service with this book. He changed my own thinking so much it shifted my own insurance approach, my healthcare approach and even my own businesses. I can't think of too many books that have had that kind of impact on me in my life, maybe 1 or 2.
However, let me say what I found wrong with Pilzer's book too.
Pilzer comes from the multi-level marketing community, he's written several books in that ilk. To me, the MLM or network marketing approach IS NOT the wave of the future. There are too many companies in this area that operate unscrupulously, and as a result, the whole sector stinks to high heaven. Yes, I know there are a few good MLM companies, but I do not think they are representative of MLM.
Having said that, I'm happy to report that Pilzer does not stress the MLM aspect a whole lot in Wellness Revolution. The undertone is there, even in the subtitle "Make Your Fortune..." but he doesn't harp on it.
And I feel the overall focus of the book, rather than showing how we could "make our fortune" could have been more instructive if it was focused on what the consumer could do to switch to this lifestyle effectively.
That is where I decided to go with my book "Health Insurance Off the Grid - A Wonderful Way to Use Alternative Medicine and Save Money on Insurance Using the New Health Savings Account (HSA)."
I took Pilzer's ideas and changed the perspective from the businessperson to the consumer. My audience is especially the holistic consumer. The person who is interested in holistic healthcare options, like naturopathy, yoga, acupuncture, etc. - but doesn't use it much because it "isn't covered by my insurance."
I would also say that my audience is exactly the set of people who are underserved by insurance today - self-employed, underinsured, uninsured. These people benefit most from my book, and from the whole HSA approach.
Another big problem I have with Pilzer's book "Wellness Revolution" is that he overestimates the wellness industry. He includes services like Lasik eye surgery, cosmetics, proactive MRI/CAT scanning salons, etc. in wellness. To me, these are ABSOLUTELY NOT WELLNESS. These services are not about "staying well." They are either fixes (eye surgery) or they are early detection of disease. Not wellness. For my definitions of wellness, as well as alternative medicine, etc. please see this earlier blog post.
Since releasing my book in 2004, which is now in its second edition, Pilzer has written another book which I also want to review here. It's called "The New Health Insurance Solution." Again, it is an excellent book, maybe even better than the Wellness Revolution. But, with this book, he leaves out the all-important piece of holistic healthcare, and just focused on how to construct your high deductible health plan and your HSA. Incredibly valuable information, to be sure, but I feel my book still provides the missing link between his two books.
I promise to review this other book on this blog very soon. I have lots to say about it too!
Paul Zane Pilzer, whatever you want to say about his network marketing side, has been an extremely influential writer for me. I hope you decide to read "Wellness Revolution" too.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Bariatric Surgery Causes Complications 40% of the Time
I've always been intrigued by the phenomenon of bariatric surgery. In my understanding, this is a technique where a person who is obese can have their stomach reduced to about the size of a walnut using surgery.
The theory is that if your stomach is smaller then you can't eat as much, so you will lose weight.
Does this make sense to anyone? So here is a person with an unhealthy lifestyle, eats too much, doesn't exercise enough, and the answer is SURGERY?
Surgery is so dangerous in general, but it sounds like this procedure is more so. Forbes magazine reports that 40% of people who have bariatric surgery have complications in the subsequent six months. These complications include leaks, hernias, infections and pneumonia. It also includes something called "dumping syndrome" (???) which means vomiting, reflux and diarrhea. Sounds nice, huh?
Of course, the excuses are coming out of the woodwork as to why this study should be ignored. The data is too old (2001). Dumping syndrome isn't that bad. As long as it isn't you who's dumping, I suppose it's fine.
Why would someone do this? Yes, changing your eating habits is hard. I can testify to that. Yes, establishing a good exercise ritual is hard. But seeing surgery as a viable option is just beyond my comprehension.
I don't like to post rants on this blog, generally, but this one just set me off.
The theory is that if your stomach is smaller then you can't eat as much, so you will lose weight.
Does this make sense to anyone? So here is a person with an unhealthy lifestyle, eats too much, doesn't exercise enough, and the answer is SURGERY?
Surgery is so dangerous in general, but it sounds like this procedure is more so. Forbes magazine reports that 40% of people who have bariatric surgery have complications in the subsequent six months. These complications include leaks, hernias, infections and pneumonia. It also includes something called "dumping syndrome" (???) which means vomiting, reflux and diarrhea. Sounds nice, huh?
Of course, the excuses are coming out of the woodwork as to why this study should be ignored. The data is too old (2001). Dumping syndrome isn't that bad. As long as it isn't you who's dumping, I suppose it's fine.
Why would someone do this? Yes, changing your eating habits is hard. I can testify to that. Yes, establishing a good exercise ritual is hard. But seeing surgery as a viable option is just beyond my comprehension.
I don't like to post rants on this blog, generally, but this one just set me off.
Monday, July 17, 2006
My UML Podcast
By the way, I did start my Unified Modeling Language (UML) podcast a few weeks ago. I call it "UML in Seven Minutes."
I just uploaded podcast #11. I'm using this podcast as a very basic starter guide for people learning the UML. Right now, I'm doing a tour of the UML diagrams one by one - class, use case, sequence, communication/collaboration and state machine so far. The rest of the diagrams will come next.
I'll also be getting into topics about Agile development, Rational Unified Process, iterative/incremental lifecycle and much more.
This has been a fun project. It has been a great challenge fitting a description of each diagram into seven minutes, but I think it's worthwhile for the listeners, especially considering the comments I'm getting back.
If you're interested in the Unified Modeling Language (i.e. you're a computer software analyst, developer, tester, etc.) please check out my "other" podcast at http://www.uml7.com.
Also, I have a related blog at Amazon.com. Click here to read my "other" blog from my "other" life. In my "other" life, I was co-author of the book "Use Cases: Requirements in Context" which has sold a surprising 20,000+ copies.
I've enjoyed keeping in touch with my former associates in the software development field ever since leaving it officially in 2002. The UML podcast is a way to continue stay connected with that world.
I just uploaded podcast #11. I'm using this podcast as a very basic starter guide for people learning the UML. Right now, I'm doing a tour of the UML diagrams one by one - class, use case, sequence, communication/collaboration and state machine so far. The rest of the diagrams will come next.
I'll also be getting into topics about Agile development, Rational Unified Process, iterative/incremental lifecycle and much more.
This has been a fun project. It has been a great challenge fitting a description of each diagram into seven minutes, but I think it's worthwhile for the listeners, especially considering the comments I'm getting back.
If you're interested in the Unified Modeling Language (i.e. you're a computer software analyst, developer, tester, etc.) please check out my "other" podcast at http://www.uml7.com.
Also, I have a related blog at Amazon.com. Click here to read my "other" blog from my "other" life. In my "other" life, I was co-author of the book "Use Cases: Requirements in Context" which has sold a surprising 20,000+ copies.
I've enjoyed keeping in touch with my former associates in the software development field ever since leaving it officially in 2002. The UML podcast is a way to continue stay connected with that world.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Hyperstrike Virtual Personal Trainer
You know I spend time thinking about what it means to be holistic, or to be pursuing wellness, etc.
One thing I really think is holistic is just getting exercise. You can do it yourself (in fact, you HAVE TO do it yourself), it energizes all your systems, it helps many chronic conditions. Fitness is holistic fitness.
I wrote about the Hyperstrike virtual personal trainer a few weeks ago on this blog.
As usual for me, I used my virtual personal trainer at Hyperstrike faithfully for about a week, then had a set of classes that I had to teach over the weekend, which got me out of my new habit, and that was it.
I'm starting again. I've nabbed a tacky little banner from Hyperstrike that you can use to click over to their site. My indiscretions aside, it really is a good service. It's free and it gives you an incredible variety of exercises for warm-ups, cardio, strength and stretching. I had no idea most of these exercises existed. I'm glad to have the videos that show how to do them in motion, otherwise I think I'd be lost.
Ha! It looks like the banner doesn't always work to click to the site so you can just click here to go to Hyperstrike.
Have fun with it! It really is a lot of fun, very motivating.
One thing I really think is holistic is just getting exercise. You can do it yourself (in fact, you HAVE TO do it yourself), it energizes all your systems, it helps many chronic conditions. Fitness is holistic fitness.
I wrote about the Hyperstrike virtual personal trainer a few weeks ago on this blog.
As usual for me, I used my virtual personal trainer at Hyperstrike faithfully for about a week, then had a set of classes that I had to teach over the weekend, which got me out of my new habit, and that was it.
I'm starting again. I've nabbed a tacky little banner from Hyperstrike that you can use to click over to their site. My indiscretions aside, it really is a good service. It's free and it gives you an incredible variety of exercises for warm-ups, cardio, strength and stretching. I had no idea most of these exercises existed. I'm glad to have the videos that show how to do them in motion, otherwise I think I'd be lost.
Ha! It looks like the banner doesn't always work to click to the site so you can just click here to go to Hyperstrike.
Have fun with it! It really is a lot of fun, very motivating.
My Free Report on Starting a Massage Business
I decided a month ago to provide a free report on starting a massage business. The response has been spectacular! Almost 300 people have downloaded this report in a little more than 30 days. Thank you everyone!!
For those who want more information, there is also a second report available for $9. But for many, the free report is enough information to get started. Click here to go to the download page.
For those who want more information, there is also a second report available for $9. But for many, the free report is enough information to get started. Click here to go to the download page.
Complementary Medicine, Alternative Medicine, Wellness, Holistic Health - What Do They All Mean?
Alternative medicine has grown in so many ways in North America. More people are visiting alternative medical practitioners than Western medical doctors. People spend more money on alternative medicine than they do out-of-pocket on Western medicine.
Another way that alternative medicine has grown is in the different labels. We have so many!
What do they all mean?
All these terms refer to a wide variety of healthcare practices originating from various countries and cultures. They include acupuncture, yoga, herbs, vitamin therapy, nutrition, exercise, reiki, reflexology, polarity and many, many other therapies.
However, each label also has its own unique twist when referring to this set of practices.
Let me take the labels one-by-one and give you a short description. Please note that these are my descriptions for each term, and other people may not agree. But I think I'm using the most widely-used definitions here.
Alternative Medicine
The term alternative medicine is probably the oldest and most widely used term. Unfortunately, it is also the most misleading.
Alternative medicine means that these healthcare practices (acupuncture, yoga, etc.) are used instead of Western medicine. A patient swears off any type of pharmaceutical drug or surgical technique and uses only Chinese medicine or homeopathy or whatever.
This hardly ever happens. Few patients are so myopic to close themselves off from all Western medical treatments. It really isn't advisable. I know many, many holistic practitioners and I've never heard any of them advise a patient to close themselves off from Western medicine. How silly! Western medicine has its own benefits to offer too, why ignore them.
But, that is the real definition of alternative medicine. You can see why it is being phased out slowly.
Complementary Medicine
A newer term is complementary medicine. This means that the practices I list above may be used as a complement to Western medicine. You go to your doctor, and he prescribes some drugs and/or surgery, then if that doesn't work, he asks you to try some other complementary approaches. Or, it may also mean when the above practices are used side-by-side with Western medicine. An example of this is when acupuncture is used for chemotherapy cancer patients to relieve the nausea and pain. This would be considered complementary medicine.
Be careful of the spelling here too. Complementary means a side-by-side approach to medicine. Complimentary means that it is free, no charge.
Integrative Medicine
A term pioneered by Dr. Andrew Weil from the University of Arizona is integrative medicine.
This means that physicians (Western and otherwise) have an integrated system of medicine that involves certain pieces of Western medicine and certain parts from the Chinese, Indian, etc. therapies that I listed above. All the therapies intermix and you have the best possible “super therapy” as a result.
As much as I like and respect Dr. Weil, I have to say that my experience says that truly integrative medicine does not yet exist anywhere yet. I've never seen a physician or any kind of practitioner who has an integrated plan for his patients that includes little bits of Western medicine and bits from multiple holistic practices.
This is probably the “Holy Grail” of medicine, but I think it will be a long time coming. The clinics that proclaim themselves to be “integrative medicine” centers are usually just a collection of different practitioners who share the rent together in one building. True integration would be great, I just haven't seen it happen.
Wellness
If the previous terms have been misleading or overly optimistic, this term is really succinct and accurate. The term wellness applies to everything a person does to stay well. It is all about prevention and achieving the greatest health a person can achieve.
This is extremely accurate in describing the Chinese or Indian systems of medicine. And it is the best possible advice for patients, to get them on the track of staying well, rather than fixing illnesses.
But, as you might guess, this term has a problem too. (Don't they all?) Wellness has been hijacked as a label for “early detection of disease.” Many hospitals have a “Wellness Center” where they conduct cancer screenings and do possible unnecessary MRI scans to look for problems or potential problems. These are great profit centers for the hospitals, but unfortunately they have ZERO to do with wellness.
Wellness is about eating right, getting enough sleep, exercising, taking the right herbs and having great relationships. It is NOT about early detection of disease. That doesn't help you stay well, it just allows you to jump on an illness before it has the chance to become life-threatening. Valuable, sure, but it is not wellness.
Holistic Health
Finally, we come to the term holistic health. You could also call it holistic medicine or holistic practices. It is also sometimes spelled “wholistic."
Holistic comes from “the whole.” It means to take a person as a whole being. The Chinese and Indian healing systems see a person, not just as a physical body, but as a body-mind-spirit. Their healing practices allow for all parts of the person and treat all parts equally. They have methodologies for solving problems in all three areas, and especially for finding problems that crisscross between body, mind and spirit (which most health problems do).
Holistic health is my favorite term. It too has problems, though. Sometimes, holistic health is perceived as a “New Age” term, evoking angels and witches and crystal balls. These off-beat practices can certainly be included as part of holistic health, but they are not at its center. Practices like naturopathy, homeopathy, Chinese medicine, Indian ayurveda are truly about holistic health.
But it will be hard to shake the New Age association for people who use the term holistic health.
There's your whirlwind tour of definitions for alternative medicine. I hope this has been helpful. Use the definition that makes most sense to you. And be well!
Another way that alternative medicine has grown is in the different labels. We have so many!
What do they all mean?
All these terms refer to a wide variety of healthcare practices originating from various countries and cultures. They include acupuncture, yoga, herbs, vitamin therapy, nutrition, exercise, reiki, reflexology, polarity and many, many other therapies.
However, each label also has its own unique twist when referring to this set of practices.
Let me take the labels one-by-one and give you a short description. Please note that these are my descriptions for each term, and other people may not agree. But I think I'm using the most widely-used definitions here.
Alternative Medicine
The term alternative medicine is probably the oldest and most widely used term. Unfortunately, it is also the most misleading.
Alternative medicine means that these healthcare practices (acupuncture, yoga, etc.) are used instead of Western medicine. A patient swears off any type of pharmaceutical drug or surgical technique and uses only Chinese medicine or homeopathy or whatever.
This hardly ever happens. Few patients are so myopic to close themselves off from all Western medical treatments. It really isn't advisable. I know many, many holistic practitioners and I've never heard any of them advise a patient to close themselves off from Western medicine. How silly! Western medicine has its own benefits to offer too, why ignore them.
But, that is the real definition of alternative medicine. You can see why it is being phased out slowly.
Complementary Medicine
A newer term is complementary medicine. This means that the practices I list above may be used as a complement to Western medicine. You go to your doctor, and he prescribes some drugs and/or surgery, then if that doesn't work, he asks you to try some other complementary approaches. Or, it may also mean when the above practices are used side-by-side with Western medicine. An example of this is when acupuncture is used for chemotherapy cancer patients to relieve the nausea and pain. This would be considered complementary medicine.
Be careful of the spelling here too. Complementary means a side-by-side approach to medicine. Complimentary means that it is free, no charge.
Integrative Medicine
A term pioneered by Dr. Andrew Weil from the University of Arizona is integrative medicine.
This means that physicians (Western and otherwise) have an integrated system of medicine that involves certain pieces of Western medicine and certain parts from the Chinese, Indian, etc. therapies that I listed above. All the therapies intermix and you have the best possible “super therapy” as a result.
As much as I like and respect Dr. Weil, I have to say that my experience says that truly integrative medicine does not yet exist anywhere yet. I've never seen a physician or any kind of practitioner who has an integrated plan for his patients that includes little bits of Western medicine and bits from multiple holistic practices.
This is probably the “Holy Grail” of medicine, but I think it will be a long time coming. The clinics that proclaim themselves to be “integrative medicine” centers are usually just a collection of different practitioners who share the rent together in one building. True integration would be great, I just haven't seen it happen.
Wellness
If the previous terms have been misleading or overly optimistic, this term is really succinct and accurate. The term wellness applies to everything a person does to stay well. It is all about prevention and achieving the greatest health a person can achieve.
This is extremely accurate in describing the Chinese or Indian systems of medicine. And it is the best possible advice for patients, to get them on the track of staying well, rather than fixing illnesses.
But, as you might guess, this term has a problem too. (Don't they all?) Wellness has been hijacked as a label for “early detection of disease.” Many hospitals have a “Wellness Center” where they conduct cancer screenings and do possible unnecessary MRI scans to look for problems or potential problems. These are great profit centers for the hospitals, but unfortunately they have ZERO to do with wellness.
Wellness is about eating right, getting enough sleep, exercising, taking the right herbs and having great relationships. It is NOT about early detection of disease. That doesn't help you stay well, it just allows you to jump on an illness before it has the chance to become life-threatening. Valuable, sure, but it is not wellness.
Holistic Health
Finally, we come to the term holistic health. You could also call it holistic medicine or holistic practices. It is also sometimes spelled “wholistic."
Holistic comes from “the whole.” It means to take a person as a whole being. The Chinese and Indian healing systems see a person, not just as a physical body, but as a body-mind-spirit. Their healing practices allow for all parts of the person and treat all parts equally. They have methodologies for solving problems in all three areas, and especially for finding problems that crisscross between body, mind and spirit (which most health problems do).
Holistic health is my favorite term. It too has problems, though. Sometimes, holistic health is perceived as a “New Age” term, evoking angels and witches and crystal balls. These off-beat practices can certainly be included as part of holistic health, but they are not at its center. Practices like naturopathy, homeopathy, Chinese medicine, Indian ayurveda are truly about holistic health.
But it will be hard to shake the New Age association for people who use the term holistic health.
There's your whirlwind tour of definitions for alternative medicine. I hope this has been helpful. Use the definition that makes most sense to you. And be well!
Daryl Kulak is the author of Health Insurance Off the Grid, a book that provides a simple, effective plan to reduce insurance costs for the self-employed, unemployed and underinsured. The book puts the new Health Savings Account (HSA) together with alternative medicine to create a workable, cost-effective plan for many Americans. The book is available at the Website http://www.healthoffthegrid.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Daryl_Kulak
Podcast #24 - Herpes is the Gift I
The latest podcast is an interview (Part 1) with Christopher Scipio, an expert in helping those with herpes in a holistic way.
Christopher lives near Vancouver British Columbia and helps many of his clients over the Internet.
The podcast is available for listening here.
Christopher's blog is here.
His e-Book on herpes is called "Making Peace with Herpes."
Christopher lives near Vancouver British Columbia and helps many of his clients over the Internet.
The podcast is available for listening here.
Christopher's blog is here.
His e-Book on herpes is called "Making Peace with Herpes."
Thursday, July 13, 2006
A Helpful Blog for Alternative Health Practices
Here's a very helpful blog by a consultant who helps alternative health practitioners with business issues.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Upcoming Podcast Topics
I have an amazing set of interviews and topics coming up on my podcast "Holistic Health Nation:"
This is only a small sample of what's coming. I have a list of almost 100 ideas that will come to life in the next year or two on the podcast.
Stay tuned!
- interview with an author who has looked at the history of holistic healing in Christianity
- Alexander Technique interview
- Investigating the high costs of healthcare
- Medical intuition
- Alternative health insurance
- Getting kids to concentrate
- Rethinking vaccines
- Midwifery
This is only a small sample of what's coming. I have a list of almost 100 ideas that will come to life in the next year or two on the podcast.
Stay tuned!
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
My TiVO Thinks I'm Twelve
Have you heard of the guy who recorded "The L Word" and a few movies with a gay theme and then TiVO began recording all the gay stuff it could, and the guy wasn't gay?
That was an interesting story. But now I'm facing the same thing. My wife enjoys watching the Adult Swim type of cartoons, including Futurama, Simpsons, Robot Chicken, King of the Hill, etc.
I like them too, but she really loves them. Well, now TiVO has noticed this preponderance towards cartoons and it's recording a bunch of kids stuff from Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, etc. Superhero stuff, Power Puff Girls, you name it.
This is another example of where a machine just can't quite get it right in guessing the preferences of a human being. Amazon's system of guessing what books you'll like has a similar problem. Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, was doing a demo and his book suggestions came up with "Amazon Women from the Moon" because he had bought some other books with the name Amazon in them. Too funny.
That was an interesting story. But now I'm facing the same thing. My wife enjoys watching the Adult Swim type of cartoons, including Futurama, Simpsons, Robot Chicken, King of the Hill, etc.
I like them too, but she really loves them. Well, now TiVO has noticed this preponderance towards cartoons and it's recording a bunch of kids stuff from Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, etc. Superhero stuff, Power Puff Girls, you name it.
This is another example of where a machine just can't quite get it right in guessing the preferences of a human being. Amazon's system of guessing what books you'll like has a similar problem. Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, was doing a demo and his book suggestions came up with "Amazon Women from the Moon" because he had bought some other books with the name Amazon in them. Too funny.
Friday, July 07, 2006
Tonight's Beer
Tonight I had a Belhaven Scottish Ale. It's a very nice beer, but it almost gave me a heart attack.
There is a little plastic "widget" floating in the can that I didn't notice until it was almost empty. Suddenly, I heard a little clunking noise when I moved the can. I looked inside and saw plastic.
"There's a friggin' syringe in my beer!" I thought.
I took a can opener and ripped the top of the can off. Then I read the label (duh).
The widget is meant to help hold the fizziness so it acts like draught.
I don't really like plastic floaties in my beer can.
Here's the beer.
There is a little plastic "widget" floating in the can that I didn't notice until it was almost empty. Suddenly, I heard a little clunking noise when I moved the can. I looked inside and saw plastic.
"There's a friggin' syringe in my beer!" I thought.
I took a can opener and ripped the top of the can off. Then I read the label (duh).
The widget is meant to help hold the fizziness so it acts like draught.
I don't really like plastic floaties in my beer can.
Here's the beer.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Podcast #23 - New Ideas About Treating Cancer - Part Two
My latest podcast is up. It's part two of my interview with Jon Barron of the Baseline of Health Foundation. A very knowledgeable nutrition expert, he gives us the lowdown on what it takes to beat cancer (or to avoid it in the first place).
Listen here.
Listen here.
Even at Advised Doses, Tylenol Can Cause Liver Damage
The L.A. Times reports that Tylenol is the leading cause of acute liver failure.
Taking herbs is the leading cause of...what? Healthier lives??
Click here to read more.
Taking herbs is the leading cause of...what? Healthier lives??
Click here to read more.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Another View of the Bosnian Pyramid
I was introduced to a blog yesterday that has an alternative view of the Bosnian Pyramid problem.
Click here to read it. Unfortunately, the blog entry just quotes from Archaeology Magazine, but in his comments to me, this blogger said that he believes that the pyramid is just a "pyramid shaped hill" and the underground passageways could be "mines from Roman times." Good points, all.
Is he skillfully showing amateurs what the facts really are, or is he blindly following whatever the establishment tells him? He wasn't able to respond to my questions about how to respond when the establishment has been wrong so many times in the past, whether in archaeology, physics, healthcare, or whatever.
But still, it's worth looking at all sides of this debate. It's not that the establishment is always wrong, but it is certainly dangerous to blindly follow them into a canyon.
Click here to read it. Unfortunately, the blog entry just quotes from Archaeology Magazine, but in his comments to me, this blogger said that he believes that the pyramid is just a "pyramid shaped hill" and the underground passageways could be "mines from Roman times." Good points, all.
Is he skillfully showing amateurs what the facts really are, or is he blindly following whatever the establishment tells him? He wasn't able to respond to my questions about how to respond when the establishment has been wrong so many times in the past, whether in archaeology, physics, healthcare, or whatever.
But still, it's worth looking at all sides of this debate. It's not that the establishment is always wrong, but it is certainly dangerous to blindly follow them into a canyon.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Christianity and Holistic Healthcare
A Florida State professor named Amanda Porterfield has written a book called "The History of Healing in Christianity," which tackles the question of why we see these two things as somehow separate - Christianity and holistic health.
For so many years, they've been closely linked, but in the past 200 years, somehow they've been separated. This separation is unnatural and Amanda takes us into the history to find out, perhaps, how to piece things back together again.
Click here for Florida State's press release on the book.
Click here to see her book on Amazon.
I hope to interview Amanda on a future podcast. I wanted to have a topic on "Holistic Healthcare for Christians" anyway, so she sounds like the perfect guest!
For so many years, they've been closely linked, but in the past 200 years, somehow they've been separated. This separation is unnatural and Amanda takes us into the history to find out, perhaps, how to piece things back together again.
Click here for Florida State's press release on the book.
Click here to see her book on Amazon.
I hope to interview Amanda on a future podcast. I wanted to have a topic on "Holistic Healthcare for Christians" anyway, so she sounds like the perfect guest!
Want a Clear View on Global Warming? Ask an Insurance Company
Here's what Richard Jones of the Hartford Insurance Company had to say about global warming.
This article from Mother Jones magazine (it's a year old article, but still very topical):
Click here to read the whole article.
This article from Mother Jones magazine (it's a year old article, but still very topical):
If you want to hear some tough talk about global warming, talk to an insurer. Take this recent statement by Richard Jones, the vice president for engineering of the Hartford Insurance Company. “Climate change is real,” said Jones. “To me, proving that earth’s climate is changing from human actions—namely global warming—is like statistically ‘proving’ the pavement exists after you have jumped out a 30-story building. After each floor, your analysis would say, ‘so far, so good,’ and then, at the pavement, all uncertainty is removed.” Jones’s alarm over the impending climate catastrophe is not uncommon, even in an industry known for its buttoned-down, by-the-book image. As the cost of droughts, floods, wind storms, and other weather events linked to climate change multiply, insurers have taken a remarkably active role in speaking out about global warming.
Click here to read the whole article.
Monday, July 03, 2006
Seattle Mother Jailed for Trying to Avoid Baby's Surgery
Tina Marie Carlsen, a young mother in Seattle, was arrested and put in jail because she didn't want her 9 month old baby, Riley, to have to undergo a dangerous kidney operation.
The jail time meant that Tina was not able to provide her mother's milk to her child for several days.
The charge? She was charged with kidnapping her own baby, as certain hospital specialists said initially that the baby's life was in "imminent danger" but later reversed their statements saying there was no imminent threat.
To me, this is outrageous. It is a clear sign of government gone too far, and of Western medicine gone crazy.
A parent should always have the right to choose the right therapy for his or her children. No exceptions. Western medicine nut cases need to be taken out of the decision making process.
If you're interested in helping the Carlsen's case, you can donate here.
The jail time meant that Tina was not able to provide her mother's milk to her child for several days.
The charge? She was charged with kidnapping her own baby, as certain hospital specialists said initially that the baby's life was in "imminent danger" but later reversed their statements saying there was no imminent threat.
To me, this is outrageous. It is a clear sign of government gone too far, and of Western medicine gone crazy.
A parent should always have the right to choose the right therapy for his or her children. No exceptions. Western medicine nut cases need to be taken out of the decision making process.
If you're interested in helping the Carlsen's case, you can donate here.
Bosnian Pyramid Syndrome
Again, I'm posting an article from a different discipline that so closely parallels medicine.
A pyramid has been found in Bosnia, in Europe.
An amateur archaeologist realized that a particular hill, all covered with grass now, looked a lot like a pyramid and began investigating. Sure enough, he found a structure underneath and even passageways into the "hill."
This pyramid shares much in common with the Egyptian pyramids in its structure and approach, but is also quite different.
The "experts" in archaeology are calling this a "fake." Their responses are that this was just an "amateur archaeologist" and that "everyone was living in caves in Europe at that time in history."
Do you see how strong a mental model can be? There is the pyramid, sitting right there. IT'S RIGHT THERE! And the "expert" looks at it and basically CANNOT SEE IT. His mental model prevents him from believing that a) an amateur could find such an amazing thing and b) that his mental model about the history of Europe could be so wrong.
Again, I bring the topic back to Western medicine.
When a nurse, or any amateur medical practitioner comes up with a new idea to help with healthcare, the "experts" band together to discredit it, based ONLY on the that fact the person is not educated as a Western medical doctor.
But in Western medicine it's even worse, because even when a doctor makes a discovery that challenges the Western medical model, he is pushed down and out as quickly as possible.
Mental models about medicine seem to be the hardest to change. In my podcast last week, I interviewed a nutrition expert who stated that the studies clearly show that if a person is over 50 and has lung cancer, chemotherapy has a 1% chance of helping him. And yet, it will be prescribed over and over again. A damaging, deceptive mental model at work.
I don't know what the answer is. Our mental models come with us as human beings. The inflexibility of mental models is something we all share. For instance, I have a mental model that President George W. Bush is evil and stupid. And no matter what he does, I can't shake that model. President Bush signed the Health Savings Account into law in 2003, which I think is one of the best things to hit healthcare in the last fifty years. I even wrote a book on the topic of HSAs. But did that change my mental model of him? Nope.
Let me know your thoughts on mental models and the Bosnian Pyramid Syndrome.
A pyramid has been found in Bosnia, in Europe.
An amateur archaeologist realized that a particular hill, all covered with grass now, looked a lot like a pyramid and began investigating. Sure enough, he found a structure underneath and even passageways into the "hill."
This pyramid shares much in common with the Egyptian pyramids in its structure and approach, but is also quite different.
The "experts" in archaeology are calling this a "fake." Their responses are that this was just an "amateur archaeologist" and that "everyone was living in caves in Europe at that time in history."
Do you see how strong a mental model can be? There is the pyramid, sitting right there. IT'S RIGHT THERE! And the "expert" looks at it and basically CANNOT SEE IT. His mental model prevents him from believing that a) an amateur could find such an amazing thing and b) that his mental model about the history of Europe could be so wrong.
Again, I bring the topic back to Western medicine.
When a nurse, or any amateur medical practitioner comes up with a new idea to help with healthcare, the "experts" band together to discredit it, based ONLY on the that fact the person is not educated as a Western medical doctor.
But in Western medicine it's even worse, because even when a doctor makes a discovery that challenges the Western medical model, he is pushed down and out as quickly as possible.
Mental models about medicine seem to be the hardest to change. In my podcast last week, I interviewed a nutrition expert who stated that the studies clearly show that if a person is over 50 and has lung cancer, chemotherapy has a 1% chance of helping him. And yet, it will be prescribed over and over again. A damaging, deceptive mental model at work.
I don't know what the answer is. Our mental models come with us as human beings. The inflexibility of mental models is something we all share. For instance, I have a mental model that President George W. Bush is evil and stupid. And no matter what he does, I can't shake that model. President Bush signed the Health Savings Account into law in 2003, which I think is one of the best things to hit healthcare in the last fifty years. I even wrote a book on the topic of HSAs. But did that change my mental model of him? Nope.
Let me know your thoughts on mental models and the Bosnian Pyramid Syndrome.
Real-Life Experience Versus Studies from Afar
I listened to a very intriguing lecture by Jessica Stern, who interviewed dozens of terrorists and tried to understand what makes them tick.
This lecture is part of the "Big Ideas" show on TV Ontario, also distributed as a podcast. Click here for more info.
Anyway, Jessica told several stories about the terrorists she met and the detailed insights she gained while on this trek of "curiosity," as she called it. This was obviously very dangerous for her to do, but we can be glad she had the courage to do it and we should pay close attention to the observations she's made about terrorism.
But, about half way through the speech, she began to lapse into quoting various statistics about "why terrorism happens." These statistics were not based on her work, but instead were collected by various academics who did not go through the experiences that Jessica did with the up-close-and-personal interviews.
I was struck by the irony of a woman who obviously had such detailed knowledge of this subject deferring to these academic studies as to what the cause of terrorism was. The studies looked at the impact of poverty, gross domestic product, male-to-female ratio, level of education, etc. and tried to correlate these to terrorism levels.
I wanted to hear what Jessica thought! But, instead, here she was, quoting statistics from people with LESS KNOWLEDGE THAN HERSELF! The Big Ideas podcast often cuts the speeches off at the end, so I'm not sure if she ever did explain her views about what causes terrorism.
Then, I reflected on how similar this was to Western medicine.
Medical doctors routinely ignore the findings of their own practices to defer to what the "clinical studies" say, however ridiculous or obviously wrong those conclusions are.
Even worse is the trend of doctors using techniques unproven by clinical studies OR hands-on experience, as reported in BusinessWeek magazine a few weeks ago in their cover story "Medical Guesswork."
But that aside, why would a perfectly competent doctor toss aside his own observations in favor of clinical studies? My only answer is that it is the product of a culture in medicine that has gone astray, that has told doctors they must do this seemingly unintuitive thing in their own practices, with their own patients.
Perhaps it is the fear of malpractice suits, or even hearings in front of the state medical boards, that causes doctors to fall in line with whatever the "common wisdom" is.
I heard Dr. Andrew Weil speak a few years ago, when he said that, in a debate with a conventional MD, he was shouted down every time he himself used the phrase "...in my experience..." because doctors weren't supposed to rely on their own experience, they were supposed to follow the results of clinical studies. Doesn't that seem backwards??
In any event, it is a truly dangerous phenomenon for us patients that this is occuring so regularly. I wish all doctors would pay attention to their own empirical evidence unfolding in front of them.
And, Jessica, if you're reading this, please tell us what YOU think causes terrorism!
And thanks for taking the risks you did to bring us new information from the front lines of terror.
This lecture is part of the "Big Ideas" show on TV Ontario, also distributed as a podcast. Click here for more info.
Anyway, Jessica told several stories about the terrorists she met and the detailed insights she gained while on this trek of "curiosity," as she called it. This was obviously very dangerous for her to do, but we can be glad she had the courage to do it and we should pay close attention to the observations she's made about terrorism.
But, about half way through the speech, she began to lapse into quoting various statistics about "why terrorism happens." These statistics were not based on her work, but instead were collected by various academics who did not go through the experiences that Jessica did with the up-close-and-personal interviews.
I was struck by the irony of a woman who obviously had such detailed knowledge of this subject deferring to these academic studies as to what the cause of terrorism was. The studies looked at the impact of poverty, gross domestic product, male-to-female ratio, level of education, etc. and tried to correlate these to terrorism levels.
I wanted to hear what Jessica thought! But, instead, here she was, quoting statistics from people with LESS KNOWLEDGE THAN HERSELF! The Big Ideas podcast often cuts the speeches off at the end, so I'm not sure if she ever did explain her views about what causes terrorism.
Then, I reflected on how similar this was to Western medicine.
Medical doctors routinely ignore the findings of their own practices to defer to what the "clinical studies" say, however ridiculous or obviously wrong those conclusions are.
Even worse is the trend of doctors using techniques unproven by clinical studies OR hands-on experience, as reported in BusinessWeek magazine a few weeks ago in their cover story "Medical Guesswork."
But that aside, why would a perfectly competent doctor toss aside his own observations in favor of clinical studies? My only answer is that it is the product of a culture in medicine that has gone astray, that has told doctors they must do this seemingly unintuitive thing in their own practices, with their own patients.
Perhaps it is the fear of malpractice suits, or even hearings in front of the state medical boards, that causes doctors to fall in line with whatever the "common wisdom" is.
I heard Dr. Andrew Weil speak a few years ago, when he said that, in a debate with a conventional MD, he was shouted down every time he himself used the phrase "...in my experience..." because doctors weren't supposed to rely on their own experience, they were supposed to follow the results of clinical studies. Doesn't that seem backwards??
In any event, it is a truly dangerous phenomenon for us patients that this is occuring so regularly. I wish all doctors would pay attention to their own empirical evidence unfolding in front of them.
And, Jessica, if you're reading this, please tell us what YOU think causes terrorism!
And thanks for taking the risks you did to bring us new information from the front lines of terror.
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Cato Institute Calls for "Large Health Savings Accounts"
The Cato Institute, a conservative, free-market think tank, proposed in 2005 that we enhance the Health Savings Account (HSA) to something they call a "Large Health Savings Account."
It seems like President Bush and the Republican Congress are in favor of this, because Bush mentioned it in his State of the Union speech. However, the HSA legislation has not come up yet, hopefully it will soon.
The Cato Institute is saying that we should be able to use our HSAs for paying our health insurance premiums as well as for medical expenses.
They are also advocating increasing the contribution limits from $2700 (individual) and $5450 (family) today up to $8000 (individual) and $16,000 (family).
They are further saying that we should abolish the restriction that in order to get an HSA you must have a health insurance policy.
I personally think that these are very, VERY positive changes. By allowing us to pay for health insurance premiums out of the HSA, we can save money on taxes for all self-employed people. And also people who are employees of larger companies can get a lump sum from their company deposited into their Health Savings Account, which they can then decide how to spend. Perhaps they'll take spend it on health insurance through their own company, or maybe they'll shop around for a better deal somewhere else. This means that there will certainly be insurance companies springing up that offer alternative medicine, because they would snare so many of these now captive corporate employees.
Dropping the requirement to have an insurance policy means that part-time and low-wage workers who have no insurance and no HSA today, could open an HSA to save for their own healthcare needs and save money on taxes too. If they do decide to get a policy, they can use that HSA money to pay for the premiums (all pre-tax).
Any expansion of the HSA program is exciting to me, but these changes are very useful for the self-employed, the working poor and the corporate employee.
For more information, click here for the Cato Institute reports on the topic of "Large Health Savings Accounts."
If you'd like to hear Michael Cannon from the Cato Institute explain his reports (mp3 format), here are Parts One, Two and Three of his talk.
I can't believe it took me this long to catch on this proposal. Although I'm in good company. When I searched for "large health savings account" on Google, there were only 2 references (search in quotes).
I think we need to push for these reforms. HSAs are a fantastic tool today, but look at how much better they could be. I am not a huge fan of the Cato Institute, especially when it comes to programs for the poor, etc., but I feel they nailed this issue on the head.
Incidentally, the Cato Institute was where the idea of the Health Savings Account came from originally in 1992.
It seems like President Bush and the Republican Congress are in favor of this, because Bush mentioned it in his State of the Union speech. However, the HSA legislation has not come up yet, hopefully it will soon.
The Cato Institute is saying that we should be able to use our HSAs for paying our health insurance premiums as well as for medical expenses.
They are also advocating increasing the contribution limits from $2700 (individual) and $5450 (family) today up to $8000 (individual) and $16,000 (family).
They are further saying that we should abolish the restriction that in order to get an HSA you must have a health insurance policy.
I personally think that these are very, VERY positive changes. By allowing us to pay for health insurance premiums out of the HSA, we can save money on taxes for all self-employed people. And also people who are employees of larger companies can get a lump sum from their company deposited into their Health Savings Account, which they can then decide how to spend. Perhaps they'll take spend it on health insurance through their own company, or maybe they'll shop around for a better deal somewhere else. This means that there will certainly be insurance companies springing up that offer alternative medicine, because they would snare so many of these now captive corporate employees.
Dropping the requirement to have an insurance policy means that part-time and low-wage workers who have no insurance and no HSA today, could open an HSA to save for their own healthcare needs and save money on taxes too. If they do decide to get a policy, they can use that HSA money to pay for the premiums (all pre-tax).
Any expansion of the HSA program is exciting to me, but these changes are very useful for the self-employed, the working poor and the corporate employee.
For more information, click here for the Cato Institute reports on the topic of "Large Health Savings Accounts."
If you'd like to hear Michael Cannon from the Cato Institute explain his reports (mp3 format), here are Parts One, Two and Three of his talk.
I can't believe it took me this long to catch on this proposal. Although I'm in good company. When I searched for "large health savings account" on Google, there were only 2 references (search in quotes).
I think we need to push for these reforms. HSAs are a fantastic tool today, but look at how much better they could be. I am not a huge fan of the Cato Institute, especially when it comes to programs for the poor, etc., but I feel they nailed this issue on the head.
Incidentally, the Cato Institute was where the idea of the Health Savings Account came from originally in 1992.
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Podcast #22 - New Ideas About Treating Cancer
This week's podcast is with a very special guest, Jon Barron, internationally recognized nutrition expert. He talks about how cancer happens, how each of us basically get cancer every day, and how to prevent and treat it with nutrition.
Listen here!
Listen here!
Tonight's Beer
Thought I'd let you in on a special brew from England that I like. It's called Hobgoblin and it's from Wychwood Breweries.
We'll Know Holistic Healthcare Has Made It When...
We'll know that holistic healthcare has succeeded when we have companies where holistic practitioners can work that will offer salary and benefits.
My wife, Tamara, had a total brainstorm today. She said that it's so interesting that most people, MOST people, who go to college to learn a profession, come out and work for a company. This makes sense, because they shouldn't have to take the risk of becoming their own company immediately after graduating.
However, in holistic health, almost every single grad must come out and immediately start their own business. That's very difficult! They must know marketing, sales, bookkeeping, taxes - you name it - in order to even do day-to-day work in this field.
The day when someone can graduate from massage school, or polarity school or Barbara Brennan's School of Healing and come out and work in a company for a salary with benefits - we'll know we've made it as an industry.
What are the intermediate steps to this goal? Or is it a worthy goal to you?
My wife, Tamara, had a total brainstorm today. She said that it's so interesting that most people, MOST people, who go to college to learn a profession, come out and work for a company. This makes sense, because they shouldn't have to take the risk of becoming their own company immediately after graduating.
However, in holistic health, almost every single grad must come out and immediately start their own business. That's very difficult! They must know marketing, sales, bookkeeping, taxes - you name it - in order to even do day-to-day work in this field.
The day when someone can graduate from massage school, or polarity school or Barbara Brennan's School of Healing and come out and work in a company for a salary with benefits - we'll know we've made it as an industry.
What are the intermediate steps to this goal? Or is it a worthy goal to you?
Post-Health Freedom America
I tend to think of things "from the end," as Stephen Covey says, so I've been thinking about what it will be like once we pass the Health Freedom Bill in Ohio and the idea takes hold in the entire U.S.
And I've realized something that is almost guaranteed to happen.
Yes, we will have lots of good things for holistic practitioners and, especially, for consumers.
But there will also be something unpleasant.
A backlash against Western medicine.
It is something easy to predict that once the American public realizes the pain, suffering and death caused by today's Western medical establishment, there will be a mighty movement against Western medicine completely. People will use their newly-found holistic services, but they are quite likely to "punish" their Western MDs for holding them hostage all these years to medical practices that were more dangerous than necessary, more costly and less effective.
And this is really, really bad. Western medicine has its rightful place within holism, and we should not cut it off at the knees at any time in the future.
I'd like to begin thinking about how we can avoid this backlash right now because it WILL happen.
I guess one idea is to embrace any of the establishment doctors, hospital administrators and even FDA executives who are even the least bit willing to think about holistic means. That way, maybe we can show that they were involved in the changeover, and that they should NOT be "punished" by being driven out of healthcare completely.
Other ideas??
And I've realized something that is almost guaranteed to happen.
Yes, we will have lots of good things for holistic practitioners and, especially, for consumers.
But there will also be something unpleasant.
A backlash against Western medicine.
It is something easy to predict that once the American public realizes the pain, suffering and death caused by today's Western medical establishment, there will be a mighty movement against Western medicine completely. People will use their newly-found holistic services, but they are quite likely to "punish" their Western MDs for holding them hostage all these years to medical practices that were more dangerous than necessary, more costly and less effective.
And this is really, really bad. Western medicine has its rightful place within holism, and we should not cut it off at the knees at any time in the future.
I'd like to begin thinking about how we can avoid this backlash right now because it WILL happen.
I guess one idea is to embrace any of the establishment doctors, hospital administrators and even FDA executives who are even the least bit willing to think about holistic means. That way, maybe we can show that they were involved in the changeover, and that they should NOT be "punished" by being driven out of healthcare completely.
Other ideas??
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Is the Consumer Gone?
David Dudas from EyeSpot was being interviewed this week by Amber MacArthur on the Inside the Net podcast and he said something very intriguing.
He basically said (and I paraphrase): "The consumer is gone now."
He meant that the idea of a passive consumer "consuming" your goods and services is going away, especially for companies that are largely Web-based.
Instead of viewing your customers as "consumers" you need to see them as "participants" or "collaborators."
He said this in context of his own company, EyeSpot, where people can upload, edit and view videos. So, a person who has no video editing software on their computer could upload a video taken on their camcorder, or even cell phone, and then edit it, chop out the boring scenes, add music and produce it all on the EyeSpot.com Website.
To EyeSpot, everybody is a video editor. Everybody is providing content for the EyeSpot Website. No one is just a passive observer, at least not for the long-term.
In fact, you can even take several of the existing videos on EyeSpot (there are already thousands of them) and mash them together without even providing any of your own content.
Do you think of your business this way? How can your "consumers" get out of their chairs and participate in your business, making it better than before in the process?
A blog is one way to start.
You start posting your blog entries, then you allow people to comment on those postings. The postings add to the content available on your blog, and away you go! Your customers and prospective customers are participating and adding content.
Here is a blog entry in my blog where I had some great comments from people.
You can see how this commenter not only improved my blog with additional content, but also improved my podcast by suggesting a great guest. How cool is that?
Likewise, in my podcast, several minutes of the content are user-generated in every episode. I have a "listener feedback" section where people e-mail me and make comments or ask questions. Obviously, it's not a live conversation, since podcasts are time-shifted, but it is still a great way to involve listeners and include them in the creation of the content of the podcast. Some of them say afterward "Wow, I heard my name on the podcast! Cool!" This is a similar feeling to being mentioned on the radio, it's just a little thrill that's undeniable, no matter the medium or the size of the audience. Actually, the original "participatory media" is the radio call-in show. Same thing. That's part of what makes that format so valuable.
So, is the consumer gone? Not yet, of course. We all sit passively in front of our televisions and "consume" that content, and we consume the food from the grocery store, but that relationship is changing.
It's worth thinking about how this can affect your business too. Blogs and podcasts are a great way to involve customers and prospective customers. How else??
He basically said (and I paraphrase): "The consumer is gone now."
He meant that the idea of a passive consumer "consuming" your goods and services is going away, especially for companies that are largely Web-based.
Instead of viewing your customers as "consumers" you need to see them as "participants" or "collaborators."
He said this in context of his own company, EyeSpot, where people can upload, edit and view videos. So, a person who has no video editing software on their computer could upload a video taken on their camcorder, or even cell phone, and then edit it, chop out the boring scenes, add music and produce it all on the EyeSpot.com Website.
To EyeSpot, everybody is a video editor. Everybody is providing content for the EyeSpot Website. No one is just a passive observer, at least not for the long-term.
In fact, you can even take several of the existing videos on EyeSpot (there are already thousands of them) and mash them together without even providing any of your own content.
Do you think of your business this way? How can your "consumers" get out of their chairs and participate in your business, making it better than before in the process?
A blog is one way to start.
You start posting your blog entries, then you allow people to comment on those postings. The postings add to the content available on your blog, and away you go! Your customers and prospective customers are participating and adding content.
Here is a blog entry in my blog where I had some great comments from people.
You can see how this commenter not only improved my blog with additional content, but also improved my podcast by suggesting a great guest. How cool is that?
Likewise, in my podcast, several minutes of the content are user-generated in every episode. I have a "listener feedback" section where people e-mail me and make comments or ask questions. Obviously, it's not a live conversation, since podcasts are time-shifted, but it is still a great way to involve listeners and include them in the creation of the content of the podcast. Some of them say afterward "Wow, I heard my name on the podcast! Cool!" This is a similar feeling to being mentioned on the radio, it's just a little thrill that's undeniable, no matter the medium or the size of the audience. Actually, the original "participatory media" is the radio call-in show. Same thing. That's part of what makes that format so valuable.
So, is the consumer gone? Not yet, of course. We all sit passively in front of our televisions and "consume" that content, and we consume the food from the grocery store, but that relationship is changing.
It's worth thinking about how this can affect your business too. Blogs and podcasts are a great way to involve customers and prospective customers. How else??
Podcast #21 - Triple Tax Savings with your Health Savings Account (HSA)
Holy cow I've created another podcast!!
This one helps point out the many ways that a Health Savings Account (HSA) can save you money on taxes.
Also, tons and tons of news this week - I thought the links section would never end!
Click here to listen.
This one helps point out the many ways that a Health Savings Account (HSA) can save you money on taxes.
Also, tons and tons of news this week - I thought the links section would never end!
Click here to listen.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
What American Accent Do You Have?
I found this cute Website that will supposedly tell you what type of American accent you have.
Here's what it thought of me:
In other words, it was completely baffled by my Canadian / Ohioan accent. Somewhere there is a server blowing smoke out the back...
Here's what it thought of me:
| Your Linguistic Profile:: |
| 60% General American English |
| 15% Dixie |
| 10% Yankee |
| 5% Midwestern |
| 5% Upper Midwestern |
In other words, it was completely baffled by my Canadian / Ohioan accent. Somewhere there is a server blowing smoke out the back...
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
I Was Interviewed by the Acupuncture Association of Colorado
I was interviewed by Greg Shim of the Acupuncture Association of Colorado about my book "Health Insurance Off the Grid" last week. He is printing the interview in their newsletter next month, but for the rest of you, here's what we talked about.
I asked Greg's permission and he said it was okay to post this on my blog.
Interview with Daryl Kulak
By Greg Shim, L.Ac., Dipl.O.M.
As a member of the Insurance Committee, I was asked to find out about HSAs (Health Savings Account) and the like. My research led me to Daryl Kulak. Mr. Kulak is the President of the Simplicity Institute in Columbus, Ohio. The Simplicity Institute is a business school for the holistic healthcare community.
In reading his book, "Health Off the Grid" www.healthoffthegrid.com I was amazed at how simple it is to address all the health insurance mess, and also what an incredibly helpful tool these types of accounts could be for our practices! The following is from a series of emails.
GS: Daryl, your book addresses HSA's, flexible spending accounts, and a few other plans. Could your give us a quick overview as to what each of these are and how our patients could use them in our practices?
DK: To be quick about it - Health Savings Accounts - good; all others - bad. I know that's a bit glib, but let me explain.
First let me say I'm not a health insurance agent, so I'm speaking strictly as a fellow consumer here. I had to educate myself about my own insurance options, and in the course of that realized that I had found a great solution by combining certain things together and decided to write this book based on those ideas.
A Flexible Savings Account (FSA) is something usually set up by your employer. It is also know as a cafeteria health plan. It is a savings account, like you'd have at a bank, but it is in the company's name, not yours. That means that when you quit that job, you lose your FSA money. Even worse, most plans are "use it or lose it," which means that at the end of each year, you lose all the money that was contributed into it. Essentially you have to rush around at the end of each year trying to figure out how to spend that money on some type of healthcare. The nice thing about FSAs is that a particular employer might allow you to spend money on various types of alternative medicine, even things that are not usually covered by insurance, such as naturopathic services or hypnotherapy.
A Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) is also usually set up by your employer. It is also a savings account, and it is also in your company's name, not yours. With an HRA, an employer might let you roll over the total amount from year to year. But once you leave that company, your HRA money is gone.
A Health Savings Account (HSA) is a totally different story. An HSA is something you set up for yourself. You can get an HSA if you're self-employed, an employee of a company or even unemployed. It doesn't matter. Even if an employer gives you the option of an HSA, it's still your HSA. An HSA is also a savings account, but you never lose it. You don't lose your HSA money at the end of the year. You don't lose your HSA when you leave a company. It's always with you. The money you put into an HSA is tax deductible for the year you put it in. It gains interest tax free. And when you take money out for medical expenses, you don't pay tax on it then either. I call it a "triple tax deduction."
Acupuncturists are especially well-suited for HSAs. IRS Publication 502 states that acupuncture expenses are legitimate expenses for an HSA. That means that every client you have as an acupuncturist could be paying for all your services with pre-tax dollars (out of their HSA, in other words). The way it would work is a patient would set up an HSA for themselves (and their family), they would fund it yearly (up to a certain limit) and then they could write checks from that account to pay you for the appointments. The patient is saving on taxes, and you don't have to submit any insurance paperwork, it seems like a cash transaction to the practitioner. The patient will definitely need an official receipt for their records, but that's it from your end. Easy, huh?
GS: In today's market, is $2500 still the magic number for a health insurance deductable? My family of 3 has a $6000 deductible, but then everything after that is completely covered. Since I am my family's Family Practitioner, we haven't had to use an MD for years. We currently pay $284 a month for this coverage.
DK: $2,500 is a magic number. That is when you will find that you are paying less overall (insurance premiums + cost of medical services) than if you asked for a lower deductible policy. This holds true in almost every case, except for a few exceptional states like New York and New Jersey, where their laws prevent customers from having cheaper costs for high deductible policies. Don't move to those states, Coloradans!
In Colorado, you will see that almost every policy at the $2,500 deductible is a good deal financially, even if you or your family falls sick every year! Let me say that again. You could be deathly ill every year of your life (I'm not wishing for that, of course) and you'd still be ahead with a $2,500 deductible policy, versus something lower like $500.
Having said all that, an even higher deductible is even better, as long as you don't foresee illnesses for your family. If everyone is fairly healthy, and especially if you're following good, holistic, preventive principles with your health, you should certainly choose a higher deductible like $6,000 or even higher. For our family, I've chosen $10,000. This sounds ridiculously high, but over the past 5 years, we've spent so little on Western medicine that it's been worth it. Even if we have a sick year sometime, we'll still be better off on the whole.
****************
Daryl’s book can be purchased from his website www.healthoffthegrid.com as either a dowloadable eBook or a mailed hardcopy. I bought a copy to lend to my patients so they can learn about HSAs and healthy health insurance. I also have a person I trust that I can direct patients toward to set up low cost HSAs and high deductable insurance plans. We can now both help our patients be well AND help them save thousands of dollars every year on their health insurance. This is the kind of ethical marketing that really gets me excited about running a business!
Daryl Kulak also has a free podcast available on iTunes and at www.holistichealthnation.com.
The part at the end is Greg's too. It seems like the IRS has changed the nutritional supplements text in Publication 502, and in a very favorable way. Nice!
The Acupuncture Association of Colorado's Website is here.
I asked Greg's permission and he said it was okay to post this on my blog.
Interview with Daryl Kulak
By Greg Shim, L.Ac., Dipl.O.M.
As a member of the Insurance Committee, I was asked to find out about HSAs (Health Savings Account) and the like. My research led me to Daryl Kulak. Mr. Kulak is the President of the Simplicity Institute in Columbus, Ohio. The Simplicity Institute is a business school for the holistic healthcare community.
In reading his book, "Health Off the Grid" www.healthoffthegrid.com I was amazed at how simple it is to address all the health insurance mess, and also what an incredibly helpful tool these types of accounts could be for our practices! The following is from a series of emails.
GS: Daryl, your book addresses HSA's, flexible spending accounts, and a few other plans. Could your give us a quick overview as to what each of these are and how our patients could use them in our practices?
DK: To be quick about it - Health Savings Accounts - good; all others - bad. I know that's a bit glib, but let me explain.
First let me say I'm not a health insurance agent, so I'm speaking strictly as a fellow consumer here. I had to educate myself about my own insurance options, and in the course of that realized that I had found a great solution by combining certain things together and decided to write this book based on those ideas.
A Flexible Savings Account (FSA) is something usually set up by your employer. It is also know as a cafeteria health plan. It is a savings account, like you'd have at a bank, but it is in the company's name, not yours. That means that when you quit that job, you lose your FSA money. Even worse, most plans are "use it or lose it," which means that at the end of each year, you lose all the money that was contributed into it. Essentially you have to rush around at the end of each year trying to figure out how to spend that money on some type of healthcare. The nice thing about FSAs is that a particular employer might allow you to spend money on various types of alternative medicine, even things that are not usually covered by insurance, such as naturopathic services or hypnotherapy.
A Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) is also usually set up by your employer. It is also a savings account, and it is also in your company's name, not yours. With an HRA, an employer might let you roll over the total amount from year to year. But once you leave that company, your HRA money is gone.
A Health Savings Account (HSA) is a totally different story. An HSA is something you set up for yourself. You can get an HSA if you're self-employed, an employee of a company or even unemployed. It doesn't matter. Even if an employer gives you the option of an HSA, it's still your HSA. An HSA is also a savings account, but you never lose it. You don't lose your HSA money at the end of the year. You don't lose your HSA when you leave a company. It's always with you. The money you put into an HSA is tax deductible for the year you put it in. It gains interest tax free. And when you take money out for medical expenses, you don't pay tax on it then either. I call it a "triple tax deduction."
Acupuncturists are especially well-suited for HSAs. IRS Publication 502 states that acupuncture expenses are legitimate expenses for an HSA. That means that every client you have as an acupuncturist could be paying for all your services with pre-tax dollars (out of their HSA, in other words). The way it would work is a patient would set up an HSA for themselves (and their family), they would fund it yearly (up to a certain limit) and then they could write checks from that account to pay you for the appointments. The patient is saving on taxes, and you don't have to submit any insurance paperwork, it seems like a cash transaction to the practitioner. The patient will definitely need an official receipt for their records, but that's it from your end. Easy, huh?
GS: In today's market, is $2500 still the magic number for a health insurance deductable? My family of 3 has a $6000 deductible, but then everything after that is completely covered. Since I am my family's Family Practitioner, we haven't had to use an MD for years. We currently pay $284 a month for this coverage.
DK: $2,500 is a magic number. That is when you will find that you are paying less overall (insurance premiums + cost of medical services) than if you asked for a lower deductible policy. This holds true in almost every case, except for a few exceptional states like New York and New Jersey, where their laws prevent customers from having cheaper costs for high deductible policies. Don't move to those states, Coloradans!
In Colorado, you will see that almost every policy at the $2,500 deductible is a good deal financially, even if you or your family falls sick every year! Let me say that again. You could be deathly ill every year of your life (I'm not wishing for that, of course) and you'd still be ahead with a $2,500 deductible policy, versus something lower like $500.
Having said all that, an even higher deductible is even better, as long as you don't foresee illnesses for your family. If everyone is fairly healthy, and especially if you're following good, holistic, preventive principles with your health, you should certainly choose a higher deductible like $6,000 or even higher. For our family, I've chosen $10,000. This sounds ridiculously high, but over the past 5 years, we've spent so little on Western medicine that it's been worth it. Even if we have a sick year sometime, we'll still be better off on the whole.
****************
Daryl’s book can be purchased from his website www.healthoffthegrid.com as either a dowloadable eBook or a mailed hardcopy. I bought a copy to lend to my patients so they can learn about HSAs and healthy health insurance. I also have a person I trust that I can direct patients toward to set up low cost HSAs and high deductable insurance plans. We can now both help our patients be well AND help them save thousands of dollars every year on their health insurance. This is the kind of ethical marketing that really gets me excited about running a business!
Daryl Kulak also has a free podcast available on iTunes and at www.holistichealthnation.com.
A note on IRS Publication 502, page 15:
Nutritional Supplements
You cannot include in medical expenses the cost of nutritional supplements, vitamins, herbal supplements, “natural medicines,” etc. unless they are recommended by a medical practitioner as treatment for a specific medical condition diagnosed by a physician. Otherwise, these items are taken to maintain your ordinary good health, and are not for medical care.
I spoke with IRS employee #9310685 from Medical Deductions and with IRS employee #5903363 from the Complex Tax Department, and both of them said that if a patient comes in with a diagnosis from a physician, then all herbs, supplements, and natural medicines (such as homeopathic injections) fall under qualified medical expenses, and are therefore purchasable with a Health Savings Account. If your patient does not have a specific diagnosis, then only the acupuncture is a qualified medical expense.
The part at the end is Greg's too. It seems like the IRS has changed the nutritional supplements text in Publication 502, and in a very favorable way. Nice!
The Acupuncture Association of Colorado's Website is here.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Top Ten Trends in Healthcare
My take on the top trends in healthcare today.
America is undergoing a dramatic shift in healthcare. Actually, ten distinctly different shifts. Although the changes are unsettling, and will cause dislocations in our economy, the overall trends are positive and will help us all be healthier and wealthier when it all shakes out.
Western Medicine Costs Continue to Rise
It's hard to imagine, but the cost of going to a regular MD or hospital is going to get more and more expensive. This is not because doctors or hospitals are getting greedy, but instead because their own costs are rising every year. Malpractice insurance for risky surgical procedures, pharmaceutical drug reactions and deaths with accompanying lawsuits, complex medical equipment for diagnostic testing – everything is rising dramatically in cost. Pharmaceutical drug costs will continue to escalate also, leaving consumers holding the bag, because...
Health Insurance Opt-Outs Surge
For many years, corporations and small businesses have provided health insurance as an employee benefit. Often, employees would choose a job based on who offered the best health insurance. No longer. Small businesses have almost completely opted-out of the insurance game, and large corporations are not far behind. General Motors complains that health insurance costs them more per year than steel for their cars. In a few years, health insurance through your employer will be only a memory. Everyone will be buying health insurance the same way they buy home insurance or car insurance – independently.
Because of this shift, consumers will begin treating health insurance the same way they treat car and home insurance. Which is to say, they will treat it like INSURANCE.
Today, many Americans run to their doctors for even the smallest maladies, and they expect their health insurer should pay for everything. In fact, they're incensed when they don't. “What, you're not paying for this bottle of antibiotics for my kid's ear infection? How terrible!”
This is opposite of how we treat car insurance. Imagine expecting your insurer to pay for oil changes, car washes, pockmarks in the paint job, a broken cupholder. Can you picture it? Of course not. It would be ridiculous.
Yet, with health insurance, it's been okay. Why? Because the employer is picking up the tab. Not anymore, they're not.
As a result, Americans will pay more attention to preventive healthcare, like regular exercise, good diet and meditation, etc. They will also do more cost comparisons between all their healthcare options, including a trip to the doctor, or...
Alternative Medicine Becomes the Dominant Healthcare System in America
I feel bad calling this a future trend, since this has almost already occurred. Alternative medicine, including naturopathy, hypnotherapy, Chinese medicine, chiropractic, yoga, etc. is fast overtaking Western medicine (drugs and surgery) as the dominant healthcare system of America.
Several studies have shown that Americans spend more out-of-pocket on alternative medicine than on Western medicine. They've also shown that people are making more trips to these alternative practitioners than they are to regular MDs. These are positive developments. The downside is that people are reticent to mention their alternative therapies to their doctors, because they're afraid of disapproval by their doctor.
But the trend is clear. Alternative medicine is often less expensive (especially outside of insurance), equally effective and produces less harmful side effects, as was evidenced by the flurry of pharmaceutical drugs this past year that were removed after being prescribed to hundreds of thousands of patients.
People's trust in Western medicine is diminishing, and their relief in finding alternatives is rising.
Major institutions are now doing large numbers of studies on alternative medicines, including herbal remedies, bodywork, meditation, dietary changes and many others. Randomized, controlled studies are available on almost every type of alternative healing practice, and they typically show good results.
The rise of alternative medicine and the opting-out of employer-funded health insurance has led us inevitably to an era of...
Consumer-Driven Healthcare
People are making their own choices in healthcare and health insurance. They want to make their own decisions.
This is extremely positive. One study after another shows that hospital patients who are disruptive, picky, nosy and non-compliant are the ones who fare best with any surgery or recovery from illness. The patients who are compliant and put their fates in the hands of their doctors are the ones who fare most poorly. Taking charge of one's health is part of consumer-driven healthcare.
This term also refers to how people are deciding to use whatever treatments they think will work best, based on their own research. Fewer people simply accept their “doctor's orders” and instead they find out for themselves what is available and make informed choices. This also means they are deciding to use a different kind of health insurance, which is more compatible with their free-will healthcare style...
High-Deductible Health Insurance and Health Savings Accounts (HSA)
As corporations drop their employees' health plans, the employees are choosing to buy high-deductible health insurance policies, which are much cheaper.
In fact, a high-deductible policy ($2,500 deductible or higher) is almost always so much cheaper, that even if you had to pay the entire deductible yourself every year, you'd still save thousands of dollars. The monthly premiums are reduced MORE than the amount of the deductible.
Along with high-deductible policies, people are choosing to use the Health Savings Account (HSA), introduced in 2003. This is a tax-deductible savings account that can be used for any medical treatment (Western medicine, actually), which is basically a tax savings for everyone who buys their insurance independently.
High-deductible policies and HSAs allow people to have Western medicine waiting in the wings when they have serious health problems that require expensive drugs, tests and surgery. But until then, they are able to use alternative medicine as the best service for prevention and small day-to-day health problems.
Alternative medicine provides a “first line of defense” while Western medicine provides the expensive, dangerous, but necessary backup.
Since alternative medicine has taken such a major role in healthcare, the state and federal laws have had to adjust, which has meant...
The Rise of Health Freedom Laws
Health freedom is a term applied to a particular kind of legislative bill. It is a bill that allows alternative medical practitioners to practice their healing arts, as long as they stay out of the areas where extensive Western medical training is required:
If alternative medical practitioners are caught doing any of these, they can be arrested for practicing medicine without a license. But otherwise, they can use any other type of healing art, including bodywork, dietary changes, movement therapies, hypnosis, etc. to help their clients.
This bill is needed in many states, because current laws state that no one can practice medicine except medical doctors, and the definition of practicing medicine is anything that helps people with their health! This means that if someone has a cold, and they go to a massage therapists who recommends echinacea, that massage therapist is breaking the law! Ridiculous? Practitioners have been shut down in many states for doing less.
Health Freedom laws are common sense. They've been passed in four states already – Minnesota, Rhode Island, California and Idaho. These states have had excellent results from these bills, including patients from neighboring states making trips to their states to seek relief from health problems. Can you say “boost to the economy?”
For more information about Health Freedom initiatives, visit the href="http://www.apma.net">National Health Freedom Website.
With Health Freedom information, and alternative medical options available, it is only natural that people turn to...
The Internet As a Healthcare Information Resource
The Internet has become the first stop for someone who has a health concern. Feeling low? Do a search on depression remedies on the Internet. Just been diagnosed with cancer, and the doctor says it's chemotherapy or die? Jump on the Internet and see what your other options are.
Of course, the Internet has its benefits and its problems. There is a tremendous amount of misinformation about healthcare on the Internet. Much of it comes from well-meaning entrepreneurs who have been sucked into a multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme and are trying to pitch some health elixir or other. A second source of health misinformation comes from the Western medical establishment, who seek to discredit alternative medical therapies that could take significant revenues away from their invested therapies. A third source of misinformation comes from the anecdotes of individuals who experienced relief from one therapy or another, but who do not (and cannot) actually represent a proven cure to a particular health problem.
Even with all these caveats, the Internet's influence in healthcare decisions will gain momentum. People will understand the “good sources” and “bad sources” of information and new portals will crop up that separate the wheat from the chaff.
The reason people are turning to the Internet in such numbers is due to a lack of trust...
Distrust in Existing Medical Institutions
At one time, you could hold no position of higher trust than to be a doctor. My wife's father was a doctor in a small town in Ohio. When he died, the funeral was packed with his patients over the years. People appreciated his caring and his dedication to keeping them healthy.
Now, doctors are viewed with suspicion. Will my doctor let me die by not revealing an alternative therapy that could help me? Is my doctor getting kickbacks from the cute, young, female pharmaceutical rep who visits him twice a month?
The system has gained the pallor of corruption, even when it's not really true. Big medicine has become big business, and the number one concern is no longer the patient, it's dollars and cents.
But hospitals and doctors are not the only things that Americans distrust...
Distrust of Socialized Medicine
People in government and in society seem to feel that some brand of socialized medicine will be the magic solution for America's healthcare problems. The “single payer system” of healthcare, successful in other countries, must be implemented here, they say.
But America is a different kind of country, from its very beginnings. Americans praise the independent spirit, the entrepreneur, the underdog.
Socialized medicine will not work in America. And Americans know it. They do not want a government-run system. What is the least efficient organization you can imagine? It's the government. Do you really want a government worker making decisions for you about healthcare?
Yes, America needs to find a way to insure every single person in this country. But socialized medicine is not the cure for this illness. Having been born in Canada and living there for the first twenty-eight years of my life, I can say that Canada's socialized medicine program leaves much to be desired. It does cover every person, but in a way that benefits no one.
I understand that the person in the middle of this entire crisis, the professional who has the most to gain or lose, is the doctor, the general practitioner. They will be devastated by a socialized medicine system, and they will also be affected greatly by the other trends in this article.
Because of this, I see the emergence of a final trend...
Doctors Incorporate Alternative Medicine Into Their Practices
Doctors will have no choice but to use pieces and parts of alternative medicine in what they do day-to-day with patients. “The customer is always right,” as they say, and the customer definitely wants a choice.
Although doctors are increasingly using alternative medicine in their own practice, and hiring alternative practitioners to work in their offices, the independent alternative practitioner will still be the rule, not the exception. There are just too many alternative practitioners (massage therapists, chiropractors, yoga instructors, etc.) for doctors to absorb everyone. And people will want a choice. A Western medical experience, or perhaps an alternative medicine experience.
And a choice they will receive.
The Western medical practitioners who are clearly leading the way are nurses. Nurses are much more open to alternatives than doctors, and they are increasingly opening their own offices, as nurse-practitioners sometimes, and treating patients with a wide variety of healing methods. Patients appreciate the nurses Western medical knowledge, and also their openness to a new set of options.
Overall, the outlook for healthcare is extremely positive for everyone involved. Tremendous change, yes. But upheaval can create some wonderful new circumstances.
Top 10 Trends in Healthcare
By Daryl Kulak
America is undergoing a dramatic shift in healthcare. Actually, ten distinctly different shifts. Although the changes are unsettling, and will cause dislocations in our economy, the overall trends are positive and will help us all be healthier and wealthier when it all shakes out.
Western Medicine Costs Continue to Rise
It's hard to imagine, but the cost of going to a regular MD or hospital is going to get more and more expensive. This is not because doctors or hospitals are getting greedy, but instead because their own costs are rising every year. Malpractice insurance for risky surgical procedures, pharmaceutical drug reactions and deaths with accompanying lawsuits, complex medical equipment for diagnostic testing – everything is rising dramatically in cost. Pharmaceutical drug costs will continue to escalate also, leaving consumers holding the bag, because...
Health Insurance Opt-Outs Surge
For many years, corporations and small businesses have provided health insurance as an employee benefit. Often, employees would choose a job based on who offered the best health insurance. No longer. Small businesses have almost completely opted-out of the insurance game, and large corporations are not far behind. General Motors complains that health insurance costs them more per year than steel for their cars. In a few years, health insurance through your employer will be only a memory. Everyone will be buying health insurance the same way they buy home insurance or car insurance – independently.
Because of this shift, consumers will begin treating health insurance the same way they treat car and home insurance. Which is to say, they will treat it like INSURANCE.
Today, many Americans run to their doctors for even the smallest maladies, and they expect their health insurer should pay for everything. In fact, they're incensed when they don't. “What, you're not paying for this bottle of antibiotics for my kid's ear infection? How terrible!”
This is opposite of how we treat car insurance. Imagine expecting your insurer to pay for oil changes, car washes, pockmarks in the paint job, a broken cupholder. Can you picture it? Of course not. It would be ridiculous.
Yet, with health insurance, it's been okay. Why? Because the employer is picking up the tab. Not anymore, they're not.
As a result, Americans will pay more attention to preventive healthcare, like regular exercise, good diet and meditation, etc. They will also do more cost comparisons between all their healthcare options, including a trip to the doctor, or...
Alternative Medicine Becomes the Dominant Healthcare System in America
I feel bad calling this a future trend, since this has almost already occurred. Alternative medicine, including naturopathy, hypnotherapy, Chinese medicine, chiropractic, yoga, etc. is fast overtaking Western medicine (drugs and surgery) as the dominant healthcare system of America.
Several studies have shown that Americans spend more out-of-pocket on alternative medicine than on Western medicine. They've also shown that people are making more trips to these alternative practitioners than they are to regular MDs. These are positive developments. The downside is that people are reticent to mention their alternative therapies to their doctors, because they're afraid of disapproval by their doctor.
But the trend is clear. Alternative medicine is often less expensive (especially outside of insurance), equally effective and produces less harmful side effects, as was evidenced by the flurry of pharmaceutical drugs this past year that were removed after being prescribed to hundreds of thousands of patients.
People's trust in Western medicine is diminishing, and their relief in finding alternatives is rising.
Major institutions are now doing large numbers of studies on alternative medicines, including herbal remedies, bodywork, meditation, dietary changes and many others. Randomized, controlled studies are available on almost every type of alternative healing practice, and they typically show good results.
The rise of alternative medicine and the opting-out of employer-funded health insurance has led us inevitably to an era of...
Consumer-Driven Healthcare
People are making their own choices in healthcare and health insurance. They want to make their own decisions.
This is extremely positive. One study after another shows that hospital patients who are disruptive, picky, nosy and non-compliant are the ones who fare best with any surgery or recovery from illness. The patients who are compliant and put their fates in the hands of their doctors are the ones who fare most poorly. Taking charge of one's health is part of consumer-driven healthcare.
This term also refers to how people are deciding to use whatever treatments they think will work best, based on their own research. Fewer people simply accept their “doctor's orders” and instead they find out for themselves what is available and make informed choices. This also means they are deciding to use a different kind of health insurance, which is more compatible with their free-will healthcare style...
High-Deductible Health Insurance and Health Savings Accounts (HSA)
As corporations drop their employees' health plans, the employees are choosing to buy high-deductible health insurance policies, which are much cheaper.
In fact, a high-deductible policy ($2,500 deductible or higher) is almost always so much cheaper, that even if you had to pay the entire deductible yourself every year, you'd still save thousands of dollars. The monthly premiums are reduced MORE than the amount of the deductible.
Along with high-deductible policies, people are choosing to use the Health Savings Account (HSA), introduced in 2003. This is a tax-deductible savings account that can be used for any medical treatment (Western medicine, actually), which is basically a tax savings for everyone who buys their insurance independently.
High-deductible policies and HSAs allow people to have Western medicine waiting in the wings when they have serious health problems that require expensive drugs, tests and surgery. But until then, they are able to use alternative medicine as the best service for prevention and small day-to-day health problems.
Alternative medicine provides a “first line of defense” while Western medicine provides the expensive, dangerous, but necessary backup.
Since alternative medicine has taken such a major role in healthcare, the state and federal laws have had to adjust, which has meant...
The Rise of Health Freedom Laws
Health freedom is a term applied to a particular kind of legislative bill. It is a bill that allows alternative medical practitioners to practice their healing arts, as long as they stay out of the areas where extensive Western medical training is required:
- performing surgery
- prescribing pharmaceutical drugs
- administering injections (like vaccinations)
- knowingly contradicting an MD's orders
If alternative medical practitioners are caught doing any of these, they can be arrested for practicing medicine without a license. But otherwise, they can use any other type of healing art, including bodywork, dietary changes, movement therapies, hypnosis, etc. to help their clients.
This bill is needed in many states, because current laws state that no one can practice medicine except medical doctors, and the definition of practicing medicine is anything that helps people with their health! This means that if someone has a cold, and they go to a massage therapists who recommends echinacea, that massage therapist is breaking the law! Ridiculous? Practitioners have been shut down in many states for doing less.
Health Freedom laws are common sense. They've been passed in four states already – Minnesota, Rhode Island, California and Idaho. These states have had excellent results from these bills, including patients from neighboring states making trips to their states to seek relief from health problems. Can you say “boost to the economy?”
For more information about Health Freedom initiatives, visit the href="http://www.apma.net">National Health Freedom Website.
With Health Freedom information, and alternative medical options available, it is only natural that people turn to...
The Internet As a Healthcare Information Resource
The Internet has become the first stop for someone who has a health concern. Feeling low? Do a search on depression remedies on the Internet. Just been diagnosed with cancer, and the doctor says it's chemotherapy or die? Jump on the Internet and see what your other options are.
Of course, the Internet has its benefits and its problems. There is a tremendous amount of misinformation about healthcare on the Internet. Much of it comes from well-meaning entrepreneurs who have been sucked into a multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme and are trying to pitch some health elixir or other. A second source of health misinformation comes from the Western medical establishment, who seek to discredit alternative medical therapies that could take significant revenues away from their invested therapies. A third source of misinformation comes from the anecdotes of individuals who experienced relief from one therapy or another, but who do not (and cannot) actually represent a proven cure to a particular health problem.
Even with all these caveats, the Internet's influence in healthcare decisions will gain momentum. People will understand the “good sources” and “bad sources” of information and new portals will crop up that separate the wheat from the chaff.
The reason people are turning to the Internet in such numbers is due to a lack of trust...
Distrust in Existing Medical Institutions
At one time, you could hold no position of higher trust than to be a doctor. My wife's father was a doctor in a small town in Ohio. When he died, the funeral was packed with his patients over the years. People appreciated his caring and his dedication to keeping them healthy.
Now, doctors are viewed with suspicion. Will my doctor let me die by not revealing an alternative therapy that could help me? Is my doctor getting kickbacks from the cute, young, female pharmaceutical rep who visits him twice a month?
The system has gained the pallor of corruption, even when it's not really true. Big medicine has become big business, and the number one concern is no longer the patient, it's dollars and cents.
But hospitals and doctors are not the only things that Americans distrust...
Distrust of Socialized Medicine
People in government and in society seem to feel that some brand of socialized medicine will be the magic solution for America's healthcare problems. The “single payer system” of healthcare, successful in other countries, must be implemented here, they say.
But America is a different kind of country, from its very beginnings. Americans praise the independent spirit, the entrepreneur, the underdog.
Socialized medicine will not work in America. And Americans know it. They do not want a government-run system. What is the least efficient organization you can imagine? It's the government. Do you really want a government worker making decisions for you about healthcare?
Yes, America needs to find a way to insure every single person in this country. But socialized medicine is not the cure for this illness. Having been born in Canada and living there for the first twenty-eight years of my life, I can say that Canada's socialized medicine program leaves much to be desired. It does cover every person, but in a way that benefits no one.
I understand that the person in the middle of this entire crisis, the professional who has the most to gain or lose, is the doctor, the general practitioner. They will be devastated by a socialized medicine system, and they will also be affected greatly by the other trends in this article.
Because of this, I see the emergence of a final trend...
Doctors Incorporate Alternative Medicine Into Their Practices
Doctors will have no choice but to use pieces and parts of alternative medicine in what they do day-to-day with patients. “The customer is always right,” as they say, and the customer definitely wants a choice.
Although doctors are increasingly using alternative medicine in their own practice, and hiring alternative practitioners to work in their offices, the independent alternative practitioner will still be the rule, not the exception. There are just too many alternative practitioners (massage therapists, chiropractors, yoga instructors, etc.) for doctors to absorb everyone. And people will want a choice. A Western medical experience, or perhaps an alternative medicine experience.
And a choice they will receive.
The Western medical practitioners who are clearly leading the way are nurses. Nurses are much more open to alternatives than doctors, and they are increasingly opening their own offices, as nurse-practitioners sometimes, and treating patients with a wide variety of healing methods. Patients appreciate the nurses Western medical knowledge, and also their openness to a new set of options.
Overall, the outlook for healthcare is extremely positive for everyone involved. Tremendous change, yes. But upheaval can create some wonderful new circumstances.
Daryl Kulak is the author of Health Insurance Off the Grid, a book that provides a simple, effective plan to reduce insurance costs for the self-employed and underinsured. The book puts the new Health Savings Account (HSA) together with alternative medicine to create a workable, cost-effective plan for many Americans. The book is available at the Website http://www.healthoffthegrid.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Daryl_Kulak
Investing an HSA
And here's the answer! I asked how to find an HSA custodian who would allow me to invest my money however I wanted to, especially bond mutual funds or stock funds.
My new friend Steve Gorman of AlternativeInsurance.com came through with the answer.
HSA Trustee Services.com
I'm going to give them a try right away. We're shifting our HSA investments to my wife now, so we'll just open her HSA at this Website instead of State Farm, where our health insurance policy and my HSA are. Nothing against State Farm, they're great, but they don't offer any types of investment for HSA money other than a bland savings account.
My new friend Steve Gorman of AlternativeInsurance.com came through with the answer.
HSA Trustee Services.com
I'm going to give them a try right away. We're shifting our HSA investments to my wife now, so we'll just open her HSA at this Website instead of State Farm, where our health insurance policy and my HSA are. Nothing against State Farm, they're great, but they don't offer any types of investment for HSA money other than a bland savings account.
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