Happy Holidays friend,
My wish for you is that you’re enjoying some nice relax time, celebrating yourself during this week of holiday festivities!
I wanted to slide into your email box ONE more time before the years’ end because I know that many of you, in the US, are facing changes to your ‘health’ insurance coverage and that you’ve got to act pretty quickly to find something that works for you, your family, your health care needs, AND your budget….that’s A LOT to ask for, I know….and that’s why I felt the urge to reach out before you jump into another year of something that may not fit your needs the way you’d like it to.
Several years ago, as a healthcare practitioner, I made the very difficult but very life-changing decision to stop accepting private health insurance. As much as I wanted (and still do) to help people access the kind of care I offer, I was spending too many sleepless nights, angst-filed days, and red-face moments dealing with trying to get my services paid for, after having seen my patients. I was offering health care, but it ruined my own personal health.
The reason I’m sharing this with you is because I know that you’re frustrated by what’s not being covered, but I can guarantee you that your doctors are also incredibly frustrated and often times can’t even keep their doors open due to the lack of reimbursement from the insurance….even though those services should have been covered.
I want you to be in charge of your health: I want you to feel empowered by your decisions, which practitioners you want to and CAN see, which health care facilities that you go to, which services you receive and that you get to decide when and where you get those services.
In my personal and professional experience, and I’m pretty sure you see this too, so I’m just validating here, but traditional ‘health insurance’ dictates if, when, how and how much they’re going to cover for you. They tell you which doctors, which services you can have access to. They tell you when you can get those services and even dictate which order you have to get those services.
I’ve heard stories, in my office, of patients knowing the diabetes medication that works for them the best, but the insurance is telling them that they HAVE to use a different one for a period of time, to ‘try it out’ before they’ll consider the one that the patient knows works. It’s crazy. It wastes time, money, and even potentially quality of life.
You and your doctor are not the ones who are in charge of your health anymore, have you noticed that, friend?
And that brings me to the point of this week’s email…….
My family has been with a health share cooperative for the last 3 years and we really put it to the test this year (I felt in good company when my hand surgeon told me that he, too is in one of these health share plans). When my daughter severely broke her ankle, requiring surgery, we weren’t sure how this was going to go. We hadn’t had any emergencies these last few years to see how they were going to cover the expenses associated with a big catastrophe like this.
As soon as I picked her up from her fall site, I took her straight to a privately owned emergency room that I’d heard amazing things about. We were in and out within 2 hours, which is a miracle, because, if you know anything about an ER wait, if you’re not actively stroking out or bleeding, you could be there for a minimum of 6 hours.
Because of Knewhealth’s policies on ‘choosing your own healthcare adventure’ I knew that I was safe to choose wherever I felt was the best fit for our needs (this versus when I broke my wrist and our then insurance argued with us for days, telling me that they wouldn’t cover the ER visit because the closest hospital was 30 minutes away, even though, for us, the closes orthopedic clinic was walking distance and the doctor got us out of there in under an hour…..doesn’t make sense to anyone). And then they wouldn’t cover me having surgery out-of-state, even though the orthopedic surgeon (who is a US Olympic doctor) told me that she would have done it the next day, due to the severity of the injury……one of my many rants about ‘health care’ coverage….apologies….got a little off track there but had to share my personal frustrations with all of this.
After the ER visit with my daughter, we picked the doctor we wanted to go to and didn’t have to wait for pre-approvals for any of the imaging, surgery or follow up visits. We paid our part, up to the required level we’d selected and then Knewhealth covered everything else after that. No questions asked. No push back. No excuses. They came through for us during a very stressful, scary and difficult time….and will continue throughout the life of this ankle break saga.
Oh, did I mention the name of the co-op is Knewhealth?
This is the type of healthcare support that I’m envisioning for our future: one in which, you’re rewarded for taking care of yourself, all along the way. One, in which, the healthier you are, the less you have to pay….and get to use that extra money to go to the Chiropractor, get massage and other forms of body work, Acupuncture, mental health support, eat organic food, take fabulous supplements, do regular detoxification programs…….all of which, contribute to ACTUAL health……go to the kind of doctor that aligns with your values…..or even use that extra savings to go on a cool retreat to reset your body, mind and spirit, so that you can prevent stress and burnout. How fun would that be to have extra money in your bank account so that you can put that into true, preventaive health care?
That’s what Knewhealth is doing for us. I’m going to be transparent and let you know what the numbers look like for our family: We’re paying around $600 a month (went up from $550 since my husband and I are both 50) for 4 of us. If we were with a traditional private insurance, we’d be paying more than double that, and we would be beholden to their rules and restrictions, which I don’t like.
At this point in my life, none of my healthcare practitioners take insurance, so I pay out of pocket, anyway….and I LOVE all of my practitioners…..from my dentist to my orthopedic surgeon….they all align with my needs and values….I’m happy with how they treat me, their offices are beautiful, they spend time with me, they listen, they follow up, they honor my needs, questions and weird requests.
As both a practitioner, and as a customer, I’m very very happy with what Knewhealth has provided our family these last few years that we’ve been with them…..it isn’t going to fit everyone’s healthcare needs, but if you’re tired of the same old, and looking for a different way of approaching the cost of healthcare, or , if you’re like me, I don’t want to be a part of that system, because it’s very, very broken. My values don’t align with how private insurances are treating their customers (you) or their doctors (me and thousands of others).
If you’re unhappy and frustrated by what you’ve got….or maybe you don’t currently have health insurance, this might be a cool alternative for you! I would highly recommend checking them out. There’s always live support and their website is very transparent and easy to use.
As a practitioner and human who’s constantly looking for businesses, entities, people, practices that align with my off-the -beaten-path values, I’m looking outside the box for help with covering health care costs, as well. This could be an answer for you, as well!
| Ready for a pause in your week? Click here to schedule your appointment Chiropractic, Craniosacral or Telehealth appointment today to reset your nervous system! |
|
As always, keeping you as up-to-date with tools, tips and information as I can for you to live your best life.
Wishing you a wonderful, cozy holiday season, and I’ll see you in ‘26!
Yours in Health and sending big hugs
Dr. Arjan
