AZ and CA Health Insurance - where if your personal responsibility?
Posted by Rachel Ricks on Tue, Dec 07, 2010 @ 02:29 PM
I love my father-in-law a lot. We moved to Orange County, CA about 15 months ago to spend more time with my in-laws - okay and to enjoy the beach and the cooler weather versus the extreme heat of Phoenix summers. . .
A few months after we moved to O.C. my father-in-law experienced a heart attack and had to have a triple by-pass surgery. Huge scare - he was only 70 years old at the time - but he has diabetes and is overweight. Prior to the heart attack he didn't eat very well and did not excerise.
He lost about 20+ pounds after the surgery and was on a physical therapy program through his Doctor. He stayed on the path toward wellness even after being released from physical therapy and actually went to the gym with the membership we bought him for Father's Day.
My mother-in-law does the majority of the cooking and started finding lighter alternatives for their meals - low fat, whole wheat, sugar-free. He continued to look really good and have a lot more energy from his new diet and excerise program.
But all good things come to an end. . . it fades. . . good habits die fast and he has stopped execising. Stopped eating healthier alternatives. Has gained the weight back and his energy has slowed down. And don't try and talk to him about the changes - exercising or eating better - he gets very defensive and upset if you bring it up!
When we have insurance, we all need to maintain a certain degree of responsibility to the ones who are helping to foot the bill. Having health insurance is not like visiting the buffet line on the a cruise ship and saying, "I paid for my cruise, and now I can dig in all I want."
I insure my vehicle. It is only reasonable for the insurance company to expect that I will lock my doors to my car and that I at least moderately maintained my vehicle to prevent accidents. After all, if something goes wrong, they're on the hook (minus my deductible). If they find out that I leave my car's doors wide open all day, they have every right to either cancel my policy or bump up my rates to account for the higher risk I am asking them to assume with my careless behavior.
Perhaps this same principle should apply to health insurance, with personal responsibility being the expectation. People could get their checkups and follow the doctor's advice or run the risk of higher premiums and policy cancellations.
What part does personal responsibility play into finding good, affordable healthcare?
If you are shopping for individual health insurance in AZ or CA, give me a call at 1-800-604-3035.
