Much of the debate about health care has been focused on getting everyone covered by health insurance. Certainly, having health insurance can be preferable to not being covered - especially for major medical expenses. However, I’ve learned especially over the past year that having health insurance does not ensure we will remain healthy based on the advice of doctors complying with managed care. The constraints by insurance companies can even injure our health by limiting diagnoses and treatments.

About 20 years ago a very good doctor friend of mine owned a orthopedic practice. When “managed care” became the buzz word for medical insurance companies taking over medical decisions being made by doctors, my friend decided to sell his practice. He became richer and volunteered at a hospital in Thailand for six months where I joined him and we traveled together. They did not have health insurance in Thailand or medical malpractice lawsuits at that time. When insurance and lawsuits became more popular, health care costs skyrocketed. However, it is still less expensive to get treatments in other counties and prescription medicines often cost less than in America.

Over the past year, I have been learning about the two-tiered system. People might find a doctor they liked on an insurance plan who decides not to accept insurance anymore. These elite doctors do not want insurance companies telling them what to do, what tests are needed, or what is the best course of treatment.

I learned much more about my health and diet, as discussed in the previous blog, by seeing a doctor not covered by insurance. The testing and treatment are tailor made to fit the individual. I’ll still use and need health insurance but going outside the system is liberating. The extra costs are commensurate with the positive benefits. The knowledge gained from the elite doctor far surpassed what I knew before. A genetics test greatly helped my diagnosis. However, when i approached the insurance company to find a doctor who could read the genetics test, there was only one doctor on the plan in Colorado who was not taking appointments for 2 years! I did pay the new doctor to tell me the results as waiting two years seems outrageous.