Friday, August 8, 2003

Complementary, Alternative, Integrative, Holistic, Whaaaaa? Here are my definitions of these terms, which I think are fairly consistent with Andrew Weil and most books: - alternative medicine refers to therapies that are used INSTEAD OF Western medicine, including Chinese medicine, ayurveda, Native American, massage therapy, etc. - complementary medicine refers to therapies that are used WITH Western medicine (same list) - integrative medicine is when a doctor knows enough about both Western medicine (drugs, surgery, etc.) and alternatives (see list above) to integrate them into an overall therapy plan I'll be honest. I don't like any of these terms. To me, these terms focus on how these systems relate to Western medicine, but the terms do not describe anything about the systems themselves. Alternative says you use Western medicine OR this other thing. Complementary says "try Western medicine first, then use dabs of this other stuff if Western doesn't work." Integrative says "we'll work Western and this other stuff into one big package" but it doesn't say what the big package will do or be that's any better than what we had before. For this reason, I use "holistic health." To me, this is a positive term rather than a referential one. Holistic says to me that the health system (ayurvedic, Chinese, etc.) treats the person as one whole person --- body, mind, spirit, environment. That is true of all these systems. In fact, it could be true of Western medicine, depending on how it was used. And, to me, the lack of holism (or wholism, as it is sometimes spelled) is the problem. Once we take that perspective, we can take an "integrative" approach, including alternatives and Western and whatever else. 9:22:52 PM     High-Deductible Health Insurance - When Does it Make Sense? I recently compared several health insurance policies to find the best features for us. My wife and I are self-employed in two separate businesses. Obviously, the smartest first step is for one person to get health insurance and then cover the other as a spouse. But what then? We found that high-deductible insurance is best for us for several reasons. We tend to use holistic health services and products long before we go to an MD. For colds, aches, pains, flu, allergies, etc., etc. we always turn to holistic (alternative, complementary, integrative, whatever) medicine before we visit a doctor. As a result, we hardly ever visit a doctor. My wife does yearly visits for female exams, although she does not have them do mammograms, because she feels the negatives outweigh the positives for it. I tend to get physical exams from an MD every 3-4 years or so, or when I'm applying for life insurance or something. What level of high-deductible is best? I'm sure it's different for everyone, but I calculated an interesting fact on several of the policies we received information about. With a $2,500 deductible (much higher than the usual $100) we could use up the deductible every single year and still be equal to what we would have paid in higher premiums with the $100 deductible. Our choice was a $10,000 deductible, so if we use our entire deductible every year, we're in trouble. We're hoping we don't. Then there's the issue of the co-insurance. This is a really strange thing. I'm not talking about co-payments, that's different. This is co-insurance. The question the agent will ask is "Do you want the insurance company to pay 50%, 80% or 100% of the costs AFTER you reach your deductible?" It seems obvious. You'd want 100%, right? Wouldn't it be scary to be in the hospital after a car accident and find out that you had to pay 20% of the $150,000 hospital body reconstruction bill? Yikes! But when I questioned more, I found out a surprise. The co-insurance also had a limit. I was responsible for paying 50%, 20% or 0% of the first $1,600 after I reached my deductible. So, if I chose 50% co-insurance, that meant my yearly outlay would be $10,000 plus $800. Not so scary, huh? The 50% co-insurance saved me an extra $8 a month or so. It was worth it. One more kicker. Check your car insurance. Yes, I said car insurance. There may be a very cheap health insurance rider you can add to your car insurance that gives you payments if you get into a car accident and need medical attention. In fact, it will cover the health insurance deductible. Ours is set at $10,000. So, if one or both of us is hurt in a car accident, we would pay nothing in deductibles. As it happens, our car insurance and corporate health insurance are with the same firm, State Farm. I'm surprised they don't use it as a selling strategy, I think it would be effective. By the way, they were able to get a better price than other agents I tried. That's all the stuff I can think of. We use a health services discount card too, It is useful when we do need to buy prescriptions, or when we use holistic health services (massages, herbs, etc.) that are in the program. 9:11:53 PM

© Copyright 2003 Copyleft. Last update: 9/13/03; 3:52:38 PM.