HEALTH INSURANCE??

I was listening to a piece on the radio this morning regarding the impending changes to Insurance law and the availability of ‘cut price’ premiums to enable the over 35 year old ‘first timers’ to enter the health insurance arena now, thus avoiding a hefty premium which will be added to the base price after this May.  It made me think about the whole thorny issue of ‘health insurance’ and what it stands for.

In Ireland we do have a public health system, but it is overloaded and there are long waiting lists for procedures, hence many people, up until recently, have chosen to pay huge premiums in order to avoid the public health system. For a family of 4/5 people that premium can be several hundred euro per month – ‘just in case’ of illness and yet if you asked the majority of these same people to invest a small proportion of that premium spend on, let’s say, eating organic food or visiting a holistic health practitioner or taking nutritional supplements, they would tell you ‘we can’t afford that’!  So we appear to live in a world where there is little or no value attached to maintaining health or preventing dis-ease but rather huge financial investment made in trying to mop up once a health crisis is reached! This is madness – prevention is always, always, always better, cheaper and easier than cure AND guess what – you feel better too!! I personally like the Traditional Chinese system of paying your Doctor while you are well and not while you are ill,(although obviously this only works if you actually do what the Doctor advises!) It is worth noting that, unlike most western doctors, Traditional Chinese Doctors advise Holistically – diet, environment, temperament and exercise and if necessary herbs, meditation and tea’s. As a Homeopath, I too am looking at the ‘Whole’ person, what use is concentrating on one particular bit when everything is connected and therefore affects everything else? The Homeopathic case taking encompasses diet, temperament, emotional health, potential toxins and stresses and it encourages this ‘looking’ at one’s health on a regular basis, not just on a fire fighting basis once a crisis is produced.  This approach to healthcare – as an ongoing support project – seems to me to be true Health Insurance, not stashing a load of money away, (which can cause stress and therefore illness in its self), and hoping that your claim will be allowed when you need it! I think more people should start investing in themselves rather than in financial institutions and perhaps asking, who is really benefiting from supporting the Health Insurance Industry?

Have a look at this handy chart that gives a flavour of how comprehensive the Traditional Chinese health system is, interestingly many key notes of Homeopathic remedies correspond with certain organs and their particular aggravation times/foods/body temperatures etc.
http://www.astrodreamadvisor.com/Qi-Cycle.html