SUSTAINABLEYOU One thing you can do... BETTER HEALTH
IS IT WORTH IT TO LOOK TO 'CAM' FOR HELP? BY KAREN LANGSTON
W
hen it comes to our health, we really do not put much thought into it until we become sick and enter into the medical nightmare paradigm. As a transplanted Canadian, this is something I did not have to worry about. I moved to Phoenix and had my first surgery. I was terrified. I was worried about what it was going to cost, how were we going to be able to afford it, and what would happen if my surgery was rejected by the insurance company. What then? My nightmare came true. I used to suffer with Crohn’s disease and spent a lifetime in and out of the hospital. It was the 2008 surgery that opened my eyes to the financial side of American healthcare. Although I had the tools to heal myself, the mounting medical bills gave me the kick in the bum I needed to finally take control of my own healthcare. I had a decision to make; do I want to keep paying thousands of dollars on co-pays, medical costs, procedures, prescriptions and be sick the rest of my life, or spend a fraction of this money on getting well? I took what I had learned over the years as a holistic nutritionist, and a year later, after a colonoscopy and
8
greenliving | February 2020
pathology, my final diagnosis was “no evidence of Crohn’s disease.” This meant no more surgeries, no more co-pays, and no more doctor visits and costly medications. I truly felt I could start living again. With our crumbling health care system, the rising cost of healthcare, and the price of prescription drugs rapidly increasing each year, is it worth it to look into complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)? I believe more people are becoming disillusioned with the medical profession’s ability to provide quality of life, and are unhappy with the rising insurance premiums and mounting medical bills, with no return on investment—a healthier life. According to a 2019 Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF)/Los Angeles Times survey, results of people with employer-sponsored insurance found 1 in 5 people had been contacted by collection agencies, while 9% of those surveyed had declared personal bankruptcy due to medical expenses. A Tal Gross and Matthew Notowidigbo 2011 study found out-of-pocket medical costs influenced 26% of bankruptcies in low-income households.
greenlivingaz.com
