It’s an upward spiral that seemingly will not end any time soon.
I’m talking about the cost of health insurance and specifically the cost that you and I – Joe and Jane consumer – get to bear to have adequate health plans that take care of our families.
In this Wall Street Journal story, reporter Avery Johnson notes that the costs employees are expected to kick in to get health insurance through their employers continues to increase – at an alarming rate.
Knock on wood, I’ve generally been a healthy individual throughout my entire life. No broken bones. No chronic conditions. No major hospitalizations, save for a three-day stint of pneumonia that put me in a hospital bed in 2005. I didn’t like it. I’ve not gone back.
My two teenage kids and beautiful wife are also healthy people. So when we open-enroll for health insurance each October/November, it’s usually a fairly quick discussion and selection of the health care plan that includes a higher than average deductible and lower monthly premiums.
Pretty easy until now, that is.
Seems crossing the 45-year-old threshold has me thinking more about health costs as well as retirement planning (which needs to include saving for health care expenses needed after I end my career as a wage earner).
For the past several years I’ve worked in the health care industry. First for the world’s largest medical device manufacturer and now for the world’s largest health plan insurer. My eyes are open to the ways of health plan coverage and the costs associated with them. I’ve developed strong opinions on the use of medical technology to prolong life.
And as health care reform goes into the implementation stage during the next several years, I hope the very industry I work in gets smart at finding ways to help individuals manage their own care intelligently.
- A focus on health and wellness early in life.
- Assistance with the obesity epidemic in a way that makes sense (personal health coaches are already being offered through many work plans, but at a cost to everyone not just those who are affected).
- Common sense approaches (and cost savings) for families and individuals who are above average on the health front and take the necessary measures to stay healthy.
By putting the onus on individuals to adopt healthier lifestyles, stay healthy and make smart health care decisions, Americans should be able to get the care they need when they need it at a cost that is affordable. Sounds so simple, but my gut tells me we remain a long, long, long way away from making that a reality in our country.
As with any major change, it happens in small steps. We first must get everyone pointed in the same direction before the big flywheel will start to turn (aka Jim Collins, “Good to Great). This happens through various agents including our own federal government launching new laws and programs. But people, we can’t rely on the government to make the change for us.
In the end, our health and well being is up to each of us. Truly. We own it. And if we expect to have access to the best health care in the world, then we better start taking care of ourselves.
-end-
Here we are waiting patiently for our table at Blue Heaven’s bar (no drinking before Noon on Sundays). Who looks hungover?
First, the new sushi bar Seven, located one floor above R. Norman’s (a newly opened, high-end restaurant focused on great steak). In the time we sat at Seven, the atmosphere literally evolved. At 7 p.m., plenty of open tables and chairs – as well as lots of room to sit at the bar and sushi counter, which is where we chose to sit. The wine list was plentiful and the wait staff very attentive – even when it got busy later in the evening. By 10 p.m. the place had evolved into a class ultra lounge with great views overlooking Hennepin avenue. It was standing room only but the staff remained smiling – happy to be part of a terrific and popular venue. We held tightly to our chairs at the sushi bar enjoying a Spider and Winter roll all very well prepared and filled with flavor. People, a 20- and 30-something crowd for the most part, dressed in the most expensive suits to the shortest of painted-on skirts and blouses strutted through the venue as the music popped and grew louder. We never felt really out of place, but certainly got our eyes filled with skin and club-like behavior. When in Rome, right? Our visit to Seven ended shortly after midnight and it seemed the place was really just hitting its peak.
Land of 10,000 Perspectives 