Part of the argument we hear daily about health care reform is that we need to get insurance to people who don’t already have it.
Really? Why?
What about people in their early 20′s who don’t have health insurance coverage? Should we make them get insurance, even if they don’t want to pay for it? And even if they can’t pay for it, are we going to force it on them anyway and have taxpayers pick up the bill?
It seems plainly obvious that we shouldn’t waste resources on people who either do not want or need a particular service, and it seems rather peculiar to force it on them. But there’s more to this scenario than you might see at first glance.
Insurance companies actually love the idea of covering young, healthy people. When you have people paying into a system, but not using it, it can keep costs lower for everyone who is part of the plan. This is fundamental to insurance of any kind. The companies who issue insurance policies count on most people using less service than they are paying for. The people who don’t use it essentially subsidize those that do.
If this sounds like socialism, then it’s socialism created by private industry under a capitalist system.
In the US health care system part of the reason this has broken down is that a large number of the healthiest people in our society have opted out of paying for insurance, which ends up driving up the cost for everyone else. People have figured out how to game the system and refuse to pay into it.
This seems like a fair way to go until you realize that the people who opt-out are taking a gamble with your communities resources. That’s because if they get seriously injured they will get treated at a local emergency room whether they have coverage or not. And if they don’t have the means to pay, the hospital will have to absorb the costs (and possibly force the patient into bankruptcy), which raises the fees the hospital charges to those who do pay.
And for those who are chronically ill and who cannot get regular medical care because they are uninsured, they will continue to clog emergency rooms with relatively minor illnesses that should be seen by a primary care physician. The crowded ER’s can potentially keep insured people from being seen for true emergencies – the original purpose of emergency rooms.
By covering everyone, both the healthy and the infirm, it lowers the risk pool for the insurers and helps to direct resources to where they are most effective.
In traditional and widely used medicine (sometimes known as allopathic medicine) as practiced by many Western-educated doctors, the reliance on lab-created medications is widespread and accepted pretty much without reservation. There has been a movement, though, that is advocating for more homeopathic-oriented remedies and therapies. In this regard then, one must ask the question “Natural vs. prescription medicine: What risks are you taking?”
The question above tends to become an either/or proposition instead of what it really should be: which is what range of medicines, both natural and man-made, can be the most efficacious when it comes to healing the maladies afflicting the human condition? After all, there seems to be real and verifiable evidence that many substances found in nature have actual healing properties.
This insight into natural medicines, which has been gained sometimes only as a result of grudging acceptance by many medical practitioners educated and trained in classic Western medical schools, can be at once both helpful and yet also harmful. This is because some who advocate for an almost complete use of nature’s substances in treating ill health fail to accept that some illnesses are not susceptible to such medicinal compounds.
Surely, there are any number of illnesses or injuries which are better served through use of health foods, aroma therapies, meditation, relaxation techniques and mixtures and compounds of various roots, grasses, seeds and the like. But is every illness treatable through homeopathic remedies and therapies? Most medical professionals and dispassionate observers would say that this probably isn’t the case.
Additionally, the use of natural medicines can carry its own hazards, especially when it comes to overuse or misuse of such substances. There are cases of physical harm resulting from excessive supplementation with any number of natural compounds. Some amino acid admixtures, when taken in large doses, can lead to sometimes-fatal outcomes. This is just as true, though, when it comes to the taking of prescription medications; some of which can be extremely harmful if not taken exactly as directed.
Overall, almost every honest physician will say that people in the West have a worrying tendency to resort to prescription or even over-the-counter (OTC) packaged medicines at every turn. In actuality, they should be trying to examine their conditions and even their lives from a more holistic viewpoint.
The benefits of such a holistic approach – looking at the body as a whole — is that a person who’s beset with an illness or malady and his or her medical practitioner (whether allopath, osteopath or homeopath) can sit down, do a critical examination of all the factors impacting health and then devise an intelligent and concerted plan aimed at alleviating sickness and restoring health.
Because of this need, natural medicines can play an important role in the treatment of illness. As to whether or not they can play an exclusive role in such treatment, no honest practitioner of medicine of any type could really say that it is true. But one must be careful in not assigning excessive physical risk to natural medicines that doesn’t exist; especially when the risks of lab-created medicines are so well known.
Unfortunately, those advocates of natural medicine fail to be as understanding in their own adherence to nature’s substances as the one, true path to good health. No person suffering from possible metastatic cancer, for example, should be expected to forego medical treatment therapies or surgeries which have proven effective for a vast number of people solely to experiment with natural medicines in hopes that they’ll be even more effective. Most studies haven’t proven that to be the case, unfortunately.
In the final analysis, it has to be said that the risks being taken when trying – initially – natural medicines to treat many ailments are somewhat less than when taking some mixture cooked up in a lab. Its effectiveness depends on the ability of a person to obey directions exactly for its use, let alone how a person may react to that medication.
Happily, if the natural remedies being taken are not proving themselves effective, there is a fall back to more traditional treatments and therapies available. And when it comes to treatment of illness, the best method will always be the one which initially relies the least on extreme medical regimes.
It is vital to our health to receive the nutrients our body needs. Most of these important vitamins and minerals are available in food, but not everyone gets the right amount from the food they eat. To prevent serious health care problems it is wise to make sure you supply your body with the right amount of these nutrients.
Why Take a Multivitamin?
Multivitamins provide essential ingredients needed to maintain good health. They come in different forms, including tablets, capsules, and liquid. This is the convenient way to get the daily doses of important nutrients. Along with a healthy diet, a multivitamin will help support good men’s health and women’s health.
Feel Better With a Multivitamin
Although most people do not suffer from serious malnutrition, their bodies might be slightly deficient in some nutrients. Even a slight deficiency can pose an increased risk of numerous diseases. Even what is considered minor problems can cause a person much suffering and loss of production. Sleep disorders, loss of memory, and lack of energy are common complaints. To support good health care, a multivitamin is very helpful.
Everyone has different needs due to lifestyles, genetics and age. There are different formulas that supply a wide range of nutrients at general nutritional levels.
Multivitamins for All Ages
People of all ages can benefit from a multivitamin. Children are growing and need nourishment for their organs and healthy bones. Pregnant women have special needs to help their child to be born healthy. As people age they develop different requirements for good health. Many young women have an iron deficiency and require an extra boost of iron. There are formulas for all ages and different needs to promote good health care.
Health Care Benefits
Some deficiencies are hard to pinpoint, but a multivitamin could help prevent serious problems in the future. Healthy skin, good cholesterol levels, diabetes, enzyme absorption and digestion are often improved with a combination of vitamins and minerals in a multivitamin. Some doctors use vitamins as therapy for specific conditions but it is not recommended to take mega doses without consulting your doctor. The recommended dose is the safest way to take the multivitamin.
One Pill a Day
Instead of taking a handful of supplements, a multivitamin can give you the recommended minimum daily requirements at one time. It will keep the dosages in balance to help insure the absorption of key ingredients. Doctors report that everyone would benefit from a daily multivitamin, and you will too!
Mental Illness
In America, mental health has grown at a tremendous rate. Increased heavily since the start of the Industrial Revolution, alcohol, drugs, social networking systems (Facebook, MySpace), and other factors have all influenced our lives in profound, negative ways. Current generations are becoming more exposed to outside strain to conform, only to realize that the great American social system that the media has created as a poster image for ourselves to follow is only a mere reflection of the inequalities that plague us today. As social strain is felt all around, the pressure to fit in is now even greater than before. Statistically, masculinity has still maintained its overbearing dominance over females, showing how our socially-constructed view on men has changed to a more annoyed, protective role affecting women in high numbers. With additional reinforcements that could be easily avoided and corrected through corporate America, mental illness is around us constantly. Until more education is brought forth amongst future generations, our unawareness and false conformity will have profound mental illness effects, which are seen across our culture today.
Every day, the average American is exposed to 3,000 ads, showing how much of what we learn is garbage and mentally frustrating because of its forcefulness. Assuming most Americans have routine lives, an unhappy setting mixed with the same buildings and torn up roads constantly surrounds us on a daily basis. With jobs and family leaving many individuals stuck in the same routine of helplessness, psychological frustration occurs because of the sad realization of our morphed socially-constructed culture. In the book, the Feminine Mystique (1963), Betty Friedan speaks of the everyday lives American women have while correctly answering why they are so unhappy. Many of the women had college degrees and were married with a couple children, but were stay at home moms with limited roles outside the home forced upon by de facto and de jure policies. Thus leaving many women in a mental and physical prison for generations. In a strange way, we can still relate our lives to the frustration women strongly faced about seventy years ago with the routine of corporate and franchised America all around us.
For the most part, individuals are given limited roles, told what to do, and must take the same path to work every day. It’s a cycle which occurs for everyone inside our mainstream culture. This leads up to our negative view or willingness to accept the boring construct of culture, so we turn to additional negative factors to express or temporarily pleasure ourselves with alcohol, drugs, and social networking systems, etc. to feel a part of something. Many of these factors can lead to negative conjointment within a group if not for just the individual. In the same way Marx speaks of the proliterates that allowed the workers nothing from what they created, except money put back in the system; while Durkheim connects on the anomie-strain of dissatisfaction within contemporary culture. These two believes correlate to how these mental illness’ form across America today. Consequently, these extreme temporary processes which we put ourselves through every day (drinking, doing drugs, expressing our emotions to a machine (Facebook) all create more psychological problems for ourselves because it does not answer or solve any long term problems, and draws us further away from coming together. It detaches us from our true purpose of understanding, while the problems continue to build and affect us all in the long run.
When you are seeking affordable health insurance, you want to make sure that you have great coverage at an affordable monthly payment. Here are 5 secrets that can help you save money by making your health insurance and overall healthcare costs more affordable.
1. Get a discount health plan. The way this works is simple – you pay a little every month to get 20-40% discounts on the services you are provided when they are needed. Physicians within a discount health plan network have negotiated lower prices for office visits, checkups, and other medical procedures. So for example, if you have a medical procedure that costs $500, you will only have to come out of pocket for $300-400.
2. Start a Health Savings Account. A health or medical savings account (MSA) works like a bank account allotted to take care or medical expenses. First, you choose a healthcare plan with a very high deductible. This can range from $1700 to $2650 for an individual and $3500 to $5250 for a family. With a health savings account, you or your employer can deposit up to 75% percent of your deductible amount into it. The funds are held by a bank or your insurer and this money is free of income tax. Whenever you have a medical expense, your MSA can take care of your deductible. Your MSA can also be used to cover expenses that would not usually be covered by your insurance plan, like cosmetic procedures for instance. This account can be carried over between employers and can collect interest over time. It is important to note that this money can be used for non-medical expenses, however if it is, you will have to pay tax on it.
3. Drop maternity coverage. If you are not of child bearing age, or do not plan on having children at all, you may want to consider dropping your maternity coverage. Some plans do have an insurance rider that you can add on should you become pregnant, but it is not necessary to have that coverage in your plan the entire time. Maternity coverage can cost an additional $2500 a year so if you do not foresee a pregnancy happening, you could drop this coverage to save some money.
4. Check with your church. If you are a part of a congregation and there are several of you that are uninsured, you and your church members may be eligible for a group healthcare plan. The advantage is that most times group healthcare plans are cheaper than individual plans. You may find that you are not only helping yourself save money with a group plan, but other uninsured individuals just like you that are in need of affordable health insurance can save money too.
5. Use the power of the Internet. In our technology age, the world is literally at your fingertips. You should not have to settle for any insurance plan that does not meet your needs completely. Affordable health insurance plans are out there, and many plans can be customized to fit your life and lifestyle. There are websites ready to give you personalized quotes that you can compare for the best rate. Do not feel rushed or pressured into choosing something that is not right for you.
What is mental health?
Though no concise definition exists, mental health is basically your attitude and approach to life. Psychological, environmental, genetic, or physiological factors have a profound effect on overall mental development.
What is mental illness?
Mental illness impairs your ability to perform routine tasks, foster healthy relationships, or cope with anger or stress. It may be classified on the basis of extreme mood swings, irrational or destructive thought patterns, and behavioral problems.
How important is mental health?
Your mental health has a huge impact on every aspect of your life.
o Self-image
Good mental health means appreciating your achievements and accepting your shortcomings. A mental illness can cause an inferiority complex, a negative body image, and intense feelings of self-hate, anger, disgust, and uselessness, which could mutate into extreme depression, psycho-social disorders, or eating disorders.
o Education
Students with mental problems socially isolate themselves, and develop anxiety disorders and concentration problems. Good mental health ensures an all-round educational experience that enhances social and intellectual skills that lead to self-confidence and better grades.
o Relationships
Mental health largely contributes to the functioning of human relationships. Mental illness can hamper even basic interactions with family, friends, and colleagues. Most people suffering from mental illness find it difficult to nurture relationships, have problems with commitment or intimacy, and frequently encounter sexual health issues.
o Sleep
An inability to handle stress or anxiety can cause insomnia. Even if you mange to fall asleep, you may wake up a dozen times during the night with thoughts of what went wrong the day before or how bad tomorrow is going to be. You may develop severe sleeping disorders which leave you exhausted and less productive.
o Eating
People with mental disorders are more prone to indulging in comfort eating or emotional binges. Finding comfort in food is something we all do from time to time. But with a mental illness, it becomes difficult to control yourself. Overeating can lead to obesity, which puts you at a risk for heart disease and diabetes, in addition to creating an unhealthy body-image.
o Physical health
Your mental state directly affects your body. For example, stress can lead to hypertension or stomach ulcers. People who are mentally healthy are at a lower risk for many health complications.
So make a conscious effort to improve and maintain your mental health.
Public health looks into activities which ensure that public health is maintained and that health of members of the public is not affected in any way. It deals more with preventative rather than curative aspects of health. Therefore, it addresses various issues related to the country’s entire population and does not confine itself to individual health alone. Various sub-fields are behavioral,occupational, social, environmental, biostatistics and also epidemiology.
The role of a public health professional is to examine its levels in various aspects of society, thereby understanding different arenas of personal choice in the community and also look into environmental factors that affect and govern general health to develop proper programs can properly protect family and community health.
Public health professionals can come from varying fields such as teaching, journalism, lab science, social workers, and attorneys and not only do they serve the local community, they also serve the national and international community. Job opportunities for a professional are varied ranging from being food inspectors to health educators to epidemiologists.
Many people consider public health professionals to be the same as clinical professionals such as doctors and nurses. It should be noted that there is a definite difference between them. Professionals are more concerned with implementing educational programs, administering services and carrying out research activities that deal with maintaining health, while clinical professionals deal with the prospect of coping with disparities.
Health professionals play a large role in maintaining and improving the state of health and this can be seen in the kind of achievements that society has witnessed in the 20th century. For example, around life expectancy has increased, child mortality has decreased and the spread of communicable diseases has certainly come down.
Nothing is more precious to us than having good health. Everyday people are getting more aware of the importance of having good health in order to be able to l8ive life to the fullest. But as the saying goes nothing is certain in this world, we will always have uncertainties and surprises good or bad in our life. We do get sick once in a while flu or even some major illness, or get ourselves involve in accidents. What ever the case may be these events when they happen to us could deplete our savings or even push us to bankruptcy. With the rising cost of hospital fees, laboratories and doctors’ fees it is now expensive and complicated. This is where health insurance could benefit us all. Yes, health insurance may cost a lot but having no health insurance at all cost more. Medical bills incurred from an accident could burn a hole in your savings. And in cases of cancer treatments, with all the doctors’ check ups, laboratory tests, and chemotherapy that one has to go through it could ruin you financially.
Health insurance could help you pay for the cost of a regular medical check ups, surgeries, contact lenses and glasses and even emergency treatments. There are two basic kinds of health insurance plan, the indemnity plan and the managed care plan. Indemnity plan is also called the fee for service plan. It has wider freedom and flexibility in the choices of the insured. He gets to pick the doctor, hospital and laboratory and other medical service provider of his choice. As long as the medical service is included in the health contract. But, the catch is the plan doesn’t pay for the entire charges, instead the insured shoulders the 20 % of the payment. This kind of plan covers only illnesses and accidents but preventive care like flu shots and birth control are not included. And coverage of the cost of prescription drugs and psychotherapy will depend on the policy and the company.
Managed Care Health insurance differs from the indemnity plan in a lot of ways. First, choice of doctors, hospitals, laboratories and other medical service provider is
limited to only those who have contracts with the HMO -Health Maintenance Organization–.Medical services is received only if authorized by the plan. If you insist on engaging on non authorized medical service provider then the cost of service or care provided will not be paid by the company. Preventive care and mental health treatment are covered by the plan.
Due to the rising demands for better and wider health insurance coverage, the health insurance is offering hybrid plans. Wherein, they combine the benefits of HMOs and indemnity coverage. The method is you can use the network of medical service providers that have contracts with the HMO but you are allow to choose someone outside of the network and pay for a higher percentage in the fee.. Managed Care plan also allows open access theory, where one can see a network medical specialist without any referrals from HMO.
You need to decide carefully in choosing the right health insurance plan for you and your family needs. You need to have a careful evaluation on what your family needs and extensive research for the right health insurance company that will provide for those needs. Keep in mind that the lowest premiums don’t really mean it’s the cheapest plan. Remember the cheapest plan is the policy that will give you the best benefits that your family really needs in case of emergencies and illnesses.
Universal health care seems to be a hotly debated topic whenever health care reform in the United States is discussed.
Public health education can be considered an ambiguous term. It teaches the proper way to improve one’s health, and can involve only one or two people, or the population of several countries. Anything that can seriously threaten the physical, mental, or spiritual health of a wide range of people, notably due to their interactions with one another, can be classified as a threat to the community’s public health. This is why public health education becomes a necessary tool to aid people against the spread of potential diseases and illnesses. Five of the most important reasons of how public health education can prove beneficial are as follows:
1. People are able to learn how to prevent the spread of communicable diseases through the training and methods being taught in education. People are able to have better access to information regarding general prevention of diseases, including the knowledge of what to do and how to act during epidemics in their area. Certain diseases have their own individual prevention methods that people should be well aware of, and employing these techniques lessens the risk of being infected by possible diseases. Through public health education, even simple things such as wearing a flu mask in particularly affected areas, or knowing when to take vaccines for a particular illness that is prominent at that time of the year, always proves very effective in limiting the number of people affected annually.
2. More people are able to access private and public medical institutions to prevent diseases or medical conditions, or to better treat them. Without the benefits of a public health education, most people may feel healthy enough and not find the need to go for a general check-up. Being aware that it is necessary to see your doctor regularly is one of the important things learned in a good public health education. Most medical hospitals and clinics offer immunization or vaccine shots during the flu seasons, or when a general outbreak of hepatitis is going around, and a public health education ensures that more people know to go to these facilities and avail of the treatment, thereby lessening the amount of ill people.
3. People are able to adopt a healthier behavior to lessen the risk of diseases being spread among themselves. Keeping things cleaner around the house, opting to lessen or quit smoking altogether, or exercising more are just a few of the many different ways taught in public health education to combat sickness and improve one’s lifestyle.
4. People become more aware of information relating to the disease, rather than believing in just public perception. Public health education not only deals with how to prevent illnesses, it also provides details of how a disease works, which may dispel some myths and fallacies about it in society. The HIV virus for example, can be spread through unprotected sexual intercourse, but not through activities such as kissing or touching. This also helps change a person’s views towards someone infected, promoting more empathy rather than discrimination.
5. People are able to help and contribute to disease prevention by supporting or volunteering at health care facilities. Public health education is more than just spreading information; it also calls people to actively participate in aiding others. To be able to protect one’s health, it is also necessary to protect the health of other people around you, and helps foster a more close-knit community and a better sense of camaraderie.