Health Care and Longevity

Before I relate what I did regarding my health insurance from 1979 to 1986, I need to make a disclaimer: I was lucky, so don't try this yourselves. Now that that's been taken care of, on with the show!

What was my relationship with the health insurance industry from 1979 to 1986? In mathematical terms: the "empty set"! In linguistic terms: nada, nyet, nichts! I was in my twenties and single. Other than a brief period of drinking (mostly light beer) from 1979 to 1981, I stayed completely clear of any drugs (well, I drank a lot of coffee). I generally ate healthful foods and kept in shape by pretty intense exercise (mainly bicycling). During this entire period, I made exactly three doctor's visits. And paid not one penny in health insurance premiums.

Since 1986, which not coincidentally coincides with the year I was married, I have been thoroughly covered with health insurance. And I see my doctor (and referrals) several times a year. But I have to ask myself: had I no health insurance, would I have seen them this often? And would my body have healed itself on its own without medical attention? But since someone else is footing the overwhelming amount of the medical bill, it is much easier to see a doctor for issues that I otherwise would have "gutted" out on my own (such as upper respiratory infections). Remember, I am not advocating that anyone (or myself) drop their own health insurance coverage.

The truth is, people need to regularly see their physician, especially as they grow older, in order to detect early signs of potentially serious (and even fatal) diseases such as heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, kidney failure, and the many forms of cancer out there. In any of these areas, early detection and treatment can be the key to survival and a long, relatively healthy life.

But having said that, I need to temper things with a little common sense. As individuals, we, not our physicians, are the parties primarily responsible for the care and longevity of our bodies. We control what kind of food and drink we put into our mouths. We decide how physically active we are through the course of our days. We decide how involved we will be with drugs. We decide to put ourselves in varying degrees of stress and anxiety, and often it is our own inner conversations with ourselves that can produce the worst effects in this area. And we can decide what company to keep: nurturing, loving friends and family, hermit-like misanthropic isolation, or destructive, even violent relationships. Our personal choices are the front lines in our struggle to achieve longevity and good health.

But some health maintenance, as I have said before, is more in the realm of the health care profession. For this, universal health care (that doesn't bankrupt its users) is needed for our society, with an embedded component of preventative health education that can help some of us with destructive personal health lifestyles to alter them for the better.