Saving on Healthcare Costs: The Eight Top Ways By Dr. Vincent DiLorenzo You must be proactive on your wellness initiatives to keep you from going broke! You and your employees are all in the same boat. Doctor bills, dental bills, hospital bills, drug bills, chiropractor bills… and so many more. Everyone is getting squeezed. So how can you cope? What can you do, especially since you are paying the ever increasing insurance premium? Well, a good start involves being proactive about your own health and that of your employees in combination with an insurance innovation: the Health Savings Account. How about just not getting sick? Not so easy though. Here are some things you can introduce into the workplace that may influence whether you and your employees get sick or stay healthy. 1) Promote healthy eating habits. That means eating well and staying away from sugar and high fructose corn syrup, both of which seem to be in everything these days. Sugar will lower the immune system making you vulnerable to bacterial and viral invasions. 2) Eliminate toxins from the body. Over the years we have all been exposed to so many toxic chemicals and pollutants that our brain and vital organs are getting all clogged up. Detoxification is a buzz word these days and how very important it is. The body must be cleaned out from within. Infrared saunas, massage, lymphatic drainage, herbal teas and soothing bathes are a few ways to “get the junk out”. 3) Maintain good dental health. The dental connections to overall health are being discussed in the media with ever more frequency. Gum disease is being listed as a risk factor for heart disease as well as premature births and low birth weight babies. Obesity, diabetes, stroke, pulmonary infections, headaches, neurological disturbances, and even cancer have relationships to dental health. 4) Help employees reduce stress and anxiety. Who do you know that is not stressed? Everyone is stressed to some degree but how one deals with the stress is what really affects their health. Undo pressure and tension place an unnatural demand upon our hearts and minds. Allowing for more natural methods such as biofeedback, meditation, homeopathic remedies, acupuncture, guided imagery and sleep therapies may allow one to someday wean off those very potent anti depressant, anti anxiety drugs. 5) Provide educational materials. Become informed consumers and patients. Everyone must learn as much as they can about their medical diagnosis or suggested treatment. Asking questions of the healthcare practitioner about the course of treatments and how side effects may be reduced should be encouraged. The internet is a wonderful source of information but always research topics from a few different viewpoints. 6) Have employees taking responsibility for your own health. The chief goal of us all is to live happy, productive and healthy lives. The only way that will happen is if we decide to assume the responsibility for maintaining our own wellness. The unfortunate perception is that if one ever gets sick, we can always have the drugs and surgeries to take care of that problem. Live a healthy life and you might have a longer life. 7) Encourage getting plenty of rest. Sleep is the time when the body schedules itself for repair. It makes sense that if you don’t get enough sleep, then the repair process is limited. Try limiting alcohol at night. A few hours later when the alcohol turns to sugar, you wake up and stay awake. Before bed, try reading something whose subject is not too disturbing. 8) Obtain good health insurance. There are many types of health insurance options in the marketplace from the HMOs to the PPOs to the traditional indemnity plans. A lot of these plans have limitations and exclusions that may limit choice of practitioners or services. A shift toward consumer responsibility for health comes with the wave of Consumer Driven Health Insurance Plans (HSA, HRA, FSA, MERP) which are a combination of high deductible major medical insurance coverage with a savings plan that is earmarked for services not normally covered by traditional plans. They are designed to encourage better health and are less costly than other plans. Check them out today. So here you have it. The secret to living a longer life and lowering your healthcare costs all at the same time. What a concept! Reference Box: Dr. Vincent DiLorenzo, President of T-Horizons, LLC, specializes in Consumer Driven Health Care Solutions for families, individuals and employers to help lower healthcare costs at home and the workplace. Find out how => www.t-horizons.com