92 – April 2
“Every cloud has a silver lining but it is sometimes a little difficult to get to the mint.”—Don Marquis
It seemed, no matter what I did, I got a bad cold every year. Someone would sneeze around me and bingo! A cold. My negative affirmations were loud in this area. And since I also believed that any cold would immediately degenerate into a sinus infection, it would be necessary for me to spend $125 for a doctor’s visit, plus about $75 for antibiotics, cough syrup, etc. So colds were not only miserable for my body, they were miserable for my pocketbook.
Something had to be done. You can guess, by now, what I did—yes, positive health affirmations! But I could see I needed to back up the positive thinking with some ships, so I took action, too. I investigated preventive health measures, and decided to consistently take vitamins, eat better and exercise more. Each action I took was a physical demonstration of my mental belief in my health.
(continued on page 92 of The Wealthy Spirit)
Today’s Affirmation:
“Shining, radiant health is flowing now through all parts of my beautiful body!”
The cost of health is a very big topic – especially these days. My 93-year-old dad and I spent some quality lunch time near the end of his life discussing the Obama health care package (along with various wars, elections, and other topics-of-the-day). We were glad some action was taken, and understand “progress not perfection” but we were quite miffed that it’s all still left in the hands of the insurance companies. Why have a middle man skimming profits off the deal when you could have it all go through Medicare, a single payer system that already works?
The insurance companies would still be around to provide Cadillac services for those who wanted and could afford all the extras. They’d be smaller, though, and they don’t want to give up the whole pie for just a slice. Understandable. But we should fight them on this, and win.
The problem with insurance companies is that they make the most money from NOT SERVING THEIR CUSTOMER. They make more money when they deny claims, their profits zoom, the shareholders get richer, and the corporate executives make big multi-million dollar paydays. So is it any wonder that they devote a lot of their time and energy to preventing people from using the medical insurance they’ve been paying for? Watch “Sicko”.
My friend Suzy beamed at me at a networking meeting – she told me she was 68 and proud of it. And delighted to be on Medicare. I signed up for that when I became eligible, too, and got my official Medicare card. That saved me about $6,000 a year. Because one of the down sides of owning your own business prior to the Affordable Care Act was that you were on the individual health insurance market, and they could basically charge you anything they wanted. raise your premiums any time they wanted, and dismiss you from insurance rolls entirely if you got sick and forevermore had a “pre-existing condition” that prevented you from obtaining any medical insurance at all.
The remaining problem with Medicare is that the Republicans inserted a rule that Medicare could not negotiate drug prices. So we stick seniors with higher costs for drugs when they need them the most?? My one medication went from $262 per year on regular insurance to $850 per year on Medicare. That makes me mad every time I have to buy it.
The medical industry is all out of whack from a financial perspective to begin with. No one knows what the real cost of any hospital stay is going to be. It’s impossible to price compare or be a smart consumer. When you’re sick, you go to the nearest or best hospital and your only thought is to get well. That’s not a great time for comparing costs.
But the difference between the amount of money paid to the hospital when you have insurance, and the amount charged to you if you don’t have it is astronomical. So you have to have it, no matter what it costs.
The latest news from a Financial Planner was that in the future you aren’t going to be able to live on Social Security because 90% of it will go to pay your medical costs.
Now that, my friends, is really sick. Somewhere, somehow, somebody is going to have to fix health care costs. Who do you think is going to do it?
