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Four More Health and Medical Considerations for Your Financial Future
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The most important message I repeat at my 10-Day Live-in
Program in Santa Rosa, California is, “Your goal
is to get out of the medical businesses. And the
only way to accomplish this safely is to be
healthy. And the only way to be healthy is to
eat properly, exercise, and practice clean
habits.” I would like to add to this, “You must
be a productive member of society to survive in
times of economic downturn. Your usefulness
depends directly upon your health.”
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Poor health could ruin you financially. Being overweight and ill results in
underperformance; which is a leading cause of job loss;
whether you work for yourself or a big company. In an
unhealthy economy unhealthy people will be the first to
be let go. Sickness costs your company a substantial
amount of money for leave, loss of productivity and
replacing you with a substitute worker. If you are
self-employed being ill will mean you are now jobless.
The downward spiral quickly becomes out of control.
Nearly four million
debtors and dependents were
involved in bankruptcy
in 2001 in the United States. Nearly half of those
filing said illness and medical bills drove them to
bankruptcy. Medical bills and drug costs are not the
only roads to financial ruin; loss of health quickly
leads to loss of income and then loss of “health”
insurance. Three-quarters of bankrupt people had medical
insurance at the time of their job loss. So don’t count
on being saved by your current coverage. Most bankrupt
people were middle class homeowners who had been to
college. So don’t count on your education and current
security to save you. Your health is fundamental for
your survival.
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Sickness Is
Expensive
Consider Some of
These Costs:
Loss
of productivity
Loss of employment
Loss of opportunity
Job replacement
Immobility (physical limitation)
Chronic pain
Doctor’s visits
Laboratory costs
X-ray (imaging) costs
Physical therapy
Occupational therapy
Retraining
Medications
Hospitalization
Surgery
Long-term care
Increase in insurance premiums
Loss of insurance coverage
Cesarean birth (rather than vaginal birth)
Birth defects in offspring |
To avoid financial ruin,
and better yet, to get ahead in life, begin by looking
at those changes that will make the biggest impact on
your life. Begin by focusing on improving your health
and personal appearance.
First Consideration:
Healthy People Attract Employers and Customers
The association of
health and attractiveness is, by natural design, for the
preservation of the species. This is obvious in sexual
relationships. We are drawn to healthy people, because
those are the ones we want to mate—to share our genetic
material—with. Therefore, better health will enhance the
chances of loving relationships for the purpose of
quality offspring.
In platonic
relationships health is also the magnet that pulls us
together. In times past, villages of people depended
upon the strengths of their individual members in order
to survive. Physically powerful people could hunt,
gather, and defend for the sake of all others. The sick
were a burden, often discarded. These same principles
transcend to businesses today. Being healthy means you
are more likely to add to the common goals of the
company. Hardy employees work harder, for longer hours,
more cleverly, and more efficiently—they are valuable
contributors. Good health radiates your worth to
others, resulting in advancement in your career.
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Research Shows:
American society adores the slim
and deplores the fat.
Obese applicants are rated as
less qualified for jobs.
Obesity has led to weight-focused
job interviews, forced resignations, denials of
promotions and insurance coverage, and exclusion
from office social functions.
Both the diabetic and obese
applicants are less likely to be hired.
Obesity lowers self-confidence,
forces concealment of weight, and channels the
obese into low-paying jobs.
Both the obese and the diabetic
applicants are viewed as having poorer work
habits.
Obesity has also led to lower
incomes ($6,700 a year less), and higher rates
of poverty (10 percent higher) are found among
obese women.
Wages of mildly obese white women
were 5.9 percent lower than standard weight
counterparts; morbidly obese white women were
24.1 percent lower.
Diabetics are rated as much more
likely to have medically-related job absences.
Obese applicants are rated as
more likely to have other absences (e.g. abusing
company privileges by feigning illness) and to
have emotional and interpersonal problems.
A survey found 47 percent of
obese Americans believe they have suffered
discrimination in the workplace, while 32
percent think obese employees are less likely to
be respected and taken seriously in the
workplace.
Overweight and obese students,
especially girls, are less likely than the
non-obese to be accepted by the more competitive
colleges.
Overweight people are less likely
to attend college even though they score high on
standardized tests and are academically
motivated.
Overweight students are more
likely to be refused letters of recommendation
from faculty members. |
Second Consideration:
You Can Regain Lost Health and Appearance
The rich Western diet
condemns people to become fat and sick just like the
opulent aristocrats of yesteryear. Back then only a few
unproductive nobles could be supported by their meager
society. With the increases in productivity following
the industrial revolution, the common person could
afford to eat like the kings and queens. But it wasn’t
until the past few decades when people living in Western
countries were able to reap the advantages of cheap
fossil fuels that an economy was created where
two-thirds of the people could become part of the
waddling masses—and they have. All this is changing.
With advancing economic downturn, unhealthy people may
be abandoned, out of necessity. So, if you are in that
unproductive group, this is the opportune time to regain
your lost health and appearance.
By changing to a
starch-based diet, with a little exercise, you will
increase your chances of surviving by becoming a more
productive member of society. Results from making this
change in eating habits are no less than medical
miracles. The average weight loss in overweight people
is 4 pounds a week without ever being hungry.
Cholesterol reductions of 25 mg/dL (.66 IU) follow from
one week of a no-cholesterol, low-fat diet. Reductions
in blood pressure of 15/13 mmHg after stopping
medications can be expected. (For more details see the
February 2005 McDougall Newsletter.) The benefits from
positive living continue so that most people are able to
achieve trim body weight, feel well, and regain full
function. Plus, they are now free from dependency on
expensive medications.
Third Consideration:
Reduce Medication Costs
Your goal is to stop all
medications, but sometimes they are necessary. In that
case, purchase wisely. Pharmaceutical companies dictate
the prescribing habits of most medical doctors. Instead
of controlling blood pressure with inexpensive diuretics
(like chlorathalidone) costing less than $4 a month (at
places like
Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and neighborhood pharmacies); the
drug companies persuade your doctor to use pills costing
$1 to $2 each (for example, name-brand calcium channel
blockers, ace inhibitors, and angiotensin receptor
blockers).
If you must take
medications then insist your doctor prescribes
conservatively, with only your—not the drug
companies’—welfare in mind.
If you are taking medications, then ask your doctor on each and
every visit why you must continue. Is this medication
still necessary? If you don’t ask the subject is
unlikely to come up during the office visit. If there is
any question about its necessity, then ask for a “trial
without the medication.” My opinion is that most people
are taking ineffective medications that are doing them
more harm than good. The adoption of a low-sodium,
low-fat, starch-based diet cures many people’s chronic
ailments from arthritis to constipation—further
alleviating the need for medications.
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Some Better and Cheaper Generic Medications to
Consider:
Arthritis: Aspirin
Atrial Fibrillation: Digoxin
Cholesterol: Pravastatin, lovastatin
Diabetes (type-2): None, insulin, glucophage
Hypertension:
Chlorathalidone,
atenolol
Infections: Ampicillin, erythromycin,
penicillin, etc.
Thyroid: Levothyroxin |
Fourth: Buy Only the
Medical Insurance You Need
The real purpose of
insurance is to share risks from unexpected occurrences,
like accidents. In reality, most of insurance premiums
are spent to treat conditions caused by expected
occurrences due to unhealthy living, such as coronary
heart disease (angioplasty and bypass),
hypercholesterolemia (statins), and GERD/heartburn
(antacids). It is unfair for those of us who eat and
live well to pay for other people’s foolishness.
Ideally, there would be an insurance company set up for
non-smoking, non-alcoholic, exercising, low-fat vegans.
Since there is not such a company we are forced to
purchase insurance that spreads everyone else’s risks to
us. I do believe you should have sound coverage for you
and your family, and not go without insurance if you can
afford it.
One way to lower your
medical insurance costs is to buy only the insurance you
are likely to need. If you are in good health, limit
your coverage to major medical. This coverage excludes
doctor’s office visits, routine check-ups, annual
physical exams, follow-up visits for drug refills, and
minor medical expenses. Unexpected accidents or major
illnesses are covered. With major medical insurance you
are buying a policy with the highest affordable
deductible available. You should be able to find a
policy with a $4000 deductible that will still keep you
from financial ruin from a 3-day hospital stay costing
$40,000.
If you are not in good
health and need ongoing care, then look for the best
coverage available to you at the best price. In many
cases this will be a HMO dedicated to keeping healthcare
costs under control, such as Kaiser Permanente.
Regardless of the kind
of health coverage you buy, be sure to check your policy
carefully for exclusions from coverage and other
loopholes that might leave you with thousands of dollars
of out-of-pocket costs if serious illness strikes
unexpectedly.
Sickness
Is Expensive and Nonproductive
I
believe most people fail to make changes in their diets
for two reasons: First, they do not believe something as
low-tech and inexpensive as food choices could cause a
profound difference in their lives; and second, they
cannot imagine themselves following a diet based on
starches, rather than the one they know so well of meat
and dairy products. With continued economic downturn
these obstacles may be forcibly removed. People will
change to simple foods out of necessity. The new society
cannot support unproductive members—sickness will be a
luxury no one can afford. Now is the time to get ahead
of the trend and make long-overdue changes.
References:
Bankruptcy risks: http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/reprint/hlthaff.w5.63v1
Research on obesity and employment discrimination:
Klesges RC, Klem ML, Hanson CL, Eck LH, Ernst J,
O'Laughlin D, Garrott A, Rife R. The effects of
applicant's health status and qualifications on
simulated hiring decisions. Int J Obes. 1990
Jun;14(6):527-35.
http://www.lectlaw.com/files/con28.htm
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Personal-Costs-of-Obesity&id=1115008
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