STRESS- THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT!

So this morning I totally broke my resolution for the new year and used the phrase "sure as hell" when speaking to an insurance company rep.  When she reacted by saying she preferred that I not use profanity I asked to speak with a grown up.  Yeah - not much of a love ninja today.

After I concluded my business (I am thinking after 30 years with my insurance carrier that it may be time to make a switch.) I recalled reading about this on the Scientific American website:

An almond-shaped structure in the center of the brain called the amygdala is a hub for emotional responses. When it’s in high gear, feelings tend to rule the neural roost, blocking the ability to rationally consider the best course of action. Ideally, we would all pause long enough for rational thought to take over—say, after someone cuts us off on the road or criticizes our efforts at work or at home. Some educators believe that such a skill should be taught to everyone at a very young age.


A curriculum called MindUP conceived by actor Goldie Hawn includes an activity called the "amygdala shake-up" designed to help children understand the need for this sort of patience. For this activity, a teacher creates a crude model of the amygdala from a soda bottle filled with water, sand and glitter. Then, in front of the class (or a single student), she turns over the bottle and shakes up its contents to show what happens when a person gets stressed or upset. Once the glitter and sand are mixed, she rights the bottle and waits for the sand and glitter to settle, explaining that the wait represents the time it takes the amygdala to calm down enough so that a person can make a good choice.

What an excellent thing to teach kids!  I like the glitter image, too.  It reminds me of that idea of "seeing red."

I also read this great post by a teacher who teaches mindfulness in her classroom.  She writes about the connection between the amygdala and bullying.

 I need to remember to take that deep breath first, BEFORE I react…instead of after when I am trying to calm myself down.

FOLLOW UP...

I finally got the lab test codes from my doctor - I think even he is amazed at how hard it was to find out the cost of the tests he ordered.  The cost for 3 blood tests comes to about $400.00.  That is nearly 2 weeks take home pay for me - ironically due to the high cost of my medical insurance.

So - knowing most tab tests are done by machines and not even by real trained people with jobs - why so much? One blood draw, program the machine and send the results. I don't think lab tests cost this much when done through a regular insurance plan, why so much for one where I am paying out of pocket before my deductible is paid?  A doctor asked and answered this question:

I can think of at least two reasons an insurance company might price services so outrageously high on certain policies. First, that would punish anyone who buys inexpensive insurance with a high deductible (both of these patients did). Second, they keep you from finding out how much (little) medical service really cost. Patients with high deductibles pay for most of their own medical care. The insurance companies make sure that these patients see a much higher price than the “real” price that they could pay. Just as with generic prescription drugs, insurance companies, not providers determine the price of everything. They can hide their real costs, and punish you for not buying a more expensive plan.

I have to admit I didn't realize that the insurance companies were quite so devious.

I did know that they spend a lot of money touting tort reform as an answer to high medical costs when legal costs are actually only 2% (mostly for their own lawyers.).  But I didn't know that the highest cost for insurance companies - 56% of their expenses - is for product design, underwriting and marketing. 

So the design and marketing of my high deductible plan is the reason my out of pocket/pre-deductible blood tests are so outrageous.

Wow. That is twisted.

WHY INSURANCE IN THE FIRST PLACE?

I am glad that all these stories about the abuses of health insurance companies are getting a lot of press. First a 4 month old breastfed baby that is denied coverage for being overweight. Then a toddler is denied coverage for being underweight. I am math impaired and even I realize that not everyone will fit into the 50th percentile!

And I can't believe we need to legislate to force coverage of battered women. Insurance companies have long charged more for coverage for women because we actually go to the doctor (as opposed to men who apparently fix everything with duct tape!)

My dad was in the life insurance business and I always understood that the money was paid in by everyone and then distributed on those who needed it. It is not supposed to be pay as you go. It is pooled and then used, the companies are sort of gambling that more people pay in than need it paid out. If they want to charge based on actual use, why have an insurance company in the middle of the transaction?

Right now we are paying $1350 per month for our HMO. We also have a $30.00 co-pay each time we see a doctor and $10.-30. for labs and prescriptions. I often wonder if we banked that $16,200. per year and just paid cash for our actual use if we wouldn't come out ahead. I believe they have policies for catastrophic care to cover a serious illness or injury. I'll bet we would be ahead if we did it. Considering that our cost for the same plan was $800.00 a month 5 years ago and is going up so much every year - we may just do it.

The health care industry has gotten like the banks. There are so many layers of profit built in that the actual cost of a doctor visit or a test or a treatment is jacked up by all the hands out expecting their cut.

I had a doctor about 18 years ago who did his own lab work, right there in the office. He did x-rays, too. He did house calls for his elderly patients. He got driven out of business by the insurance companies. They didn't want him to do his lab work. They wanted him to use the labs they operated. He said the insurance companies were so invasive that it got to the point that he couldn't run his practice the way he wanted and he closed it down and went into teaching. He was the best doctor I ever had. The kind of doctor I am afraid we will never get to have again.