Who is “them” in this caution? Health insurance companies…don’t let them be the reason you don’t get the healthcare and type of treatment you actually want. Don’t let them stop you from doing what you believe to be in your best interests. If you are depending on your health insurance to pay for everything you may need to restore your health, you just might be in for a disappointing experience. Depending on your health insurance plan, you may or may not have coverage for services like functional medicine.

Don’t use health insurance as a reason or excuse for not taking care of yourself. “If my insurance won’t pay for it, then I can’t do it” is not the most logical

conclusion to reach. This is like saying “if they won’t pay to take care of me, then I certainly won’t pay to take care of me.” Why would you want to give a business…a profit-driven business mind you… that kind of power over you and your health and possibly your life? If for some reason your auto insurance refused to pay for your broken windshield would you refuse to pay for the expenses yourself? If your basement flooded because the sump pump failed and you did not have coverage for it on your homeowner’s insurance, would you just live with the damage it cause or would you pay to have it fixed?

Why are we so mentally stuck when it comes to health insurance and what we will and will not pay for? One common reason I often hear is that people don’t want to pay out of pocket because they already spend so much just to have the insurance. Now this seems like a logical argument, but who is the one who suffers? You are. So how logical is that reason? “If they won’t take care of me, then I won’t take care of me.”  Your insurance company does not care what you do or how healthy you are; they only care about one thing…your insurance premiums. They don’t care how many people are sick and dying from chronic diseases; as their costs go up they just keep raising your premiums. Using health insurance coverage as a “reason” for not taking care of yourself to the best of your ability is very shortsighted reasoning.

What else won’t your health insurance pay for? Will they pay the difference between organic foods or poor quality foods? Do they pay for your gym membership? Do they pay for dietary supplements? Do they pay for a good water filtration system in your home so that you can drink clean water? Do they pay for anything that will actually restore your health? No they will not!

Many people don’t actually have health insurance, you have disease and physical catastrophe insurance…they will pay for drugs and surgery. They will pay, and pay and pay…they will pay astronomical medical fees to keep you alive but the wont’ pay a dollar to help you become healthy.

The “health” insurance model for disease “prevention” basically involves testing and screenings to see when you should be started on medication. They want to make sure you get started on drugs for blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, etc. as soon as possible. Not to try to help you avoid these drugs of course, but to get you on these as soon as disease presents itself.

This in fact is the system of traditional medicine and health insurance today…”let’s wait until you have the disease then we will be happy to get you started on medication for that problem… and yes, you will probably be taking it for rest of your life. That is a fantastic business model by the way…every new customer is a customer for life!

So, like it or not this is how health insurance works and it will not be changing any time soon. You are responsible for your own health and you are the one who has to live with your body…nobody else does…not your doctor, not your insurance company, not your employer…nobody but you.  You can use insurance coverage as a reason for not seeking more natural and health-creating alternatives like functional medicine but the only person that suffers is you.
It would be great if health insurance paid for true health and wellness and rewarded those who do take care of themselves, but the fact is they don’t. Nobody said

life would be fair.

Maybe this will change in the future, but I am not going to gamble with my health and quality of life, hoping that a profit-driven and dysfunctional industry is going to start looking out for my best interests over their own. 

So choose wisely when it comes to your health, your body and your life. Nobody but you will have to live with the consequences your decisions. Don’t let health insurance stand between you and your healthier, happier self. Don’t give them that kind of power over your life.

If you would like more information on integrative medicine, functional medicine or Dr. Sexton, go to napervilleintegratedwellness.com

Do your own research, inform yourself and ask lots of questions. When collecting information you MUST consider the source. There is no shortage of false, misleading, outdated, profit-driven and utterly biased information in healthcare today; even from the most respected sources.