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How To Find A Natural Health Insurance Plan

Guest Author — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 10:25:52 +0000

This article is written by Yamileth Medina from VitalOne Health Insurance Blog. Yamileth is an up-and-coming expert on health and helping people decide on a health insurance plan. She lives in Miami, FL.

Advocates of alternative medicine and natural health care have long struggled to find health insurance coverage that includes their preferred treatments.

Why is this the case? In the past, there have been few scientifically controlled studies on the effectiveness of these treatments–despite many positive ancecdotes. Health insurance companies want to save money, and therefore do not want to cover anything that they believe doesn’t work.

Fortunately, that scenario is changing for the better. Experiments have proven the benefits of massage therapy, acupuncture, chiropractic, herbal and other forms of natural and alternative treatments. As a result, 14 out of the 18 major health insurers in the United States cover common homeopathic treatments.

In order to find a health insurance plan that fits your needs, you must do your research and ask questions. That advice is no different for those committed to natural living. Remember that more comprehensive coverage is generally associated with higher monthly premiums.

Find out if any health plan you are considering offers the level of coverage you want; some may only include a limited number of visits per year, or simply include a discount for practicioners’ fees.

In addition, keep in mind any other limitations a policy may have. Typical limitations include coverage that only applies when the insurer deems the treatment medically necessary or for certain health conditions, as well as the requirement that any practicioners are licensed by their particular governing board.

Some insurers have provider networks, which often consist of both conventional and alternative doctors and facilities. The insurance company has negotiated significantly cheaper fees from those providers, in exchange for a guaranteed volume of patients. If you already have a regular alternative physician, make sure that he or she is in the network in order to maximize your savings. If not, you must either go out-of-network and pay the full cost yourself (instead of just a nominal co-payment) or choose a new provider.

Some natural health treatments are more mainstream (and therefore more likely to be covered) than others. Since a high-deductible health insurance plan allows for greater consumer choice and flexibility, it may be the right solution for you. While you will continue paying for your natural health visits and prescriptions out-of-pocket, that money will first be deposited into a Health Savings Account (HSA) tax-free, therefore saving you money.

At the same time, such plans offer catastrophic coverage for traditional medicine during emergencies, when you are most likely to use it.

Many fear that healthcare reform will have a negative impact on natural health fans. The recently passed law has an emphasis on effectiveness testing in order to eliminate wasteful health spending, which some fear will leave alternative and natural remedies out in the cold.

As a natural health supporter, some states are more amenable to your viewpoint. Health plans in Washington state are considered especially accepting of alternative health solutions. Regardless of the state you reside in, you shouldn’t give up hope on receiving the type of health care you want and deserve.

Photo by Wonderlane

More pesticides for strawberries

NHE — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 20:52:05 +0000

I have long known about the high levels of pesticides used on conventional pesticides – and in fact I remember one article that claimed that conventional strawberries had as much as 10x as many pesticides as some of the other fruit they were sharing shelf space with.

A friend recently passed along an article to me that suggests the pesticide usage on strawberries is about to become worse.

According to the article…

… And in Sacramento, a pesticide so cancer- Geneva Conventions apply to them. And in Sacramento, a pesticide so cancer- causing that it’s often used specifically to create cancer in rats for medica experiments was just proposed for approval for use on the state’s strawberry crop.

And…

The state’s own Department of Pesticide Regulation had advised in a report against approving the gas, methyl iodide. And several Nobel prize winners asked the U.S. EPA not to approve it. (It did.) According to farmers, there are a number of alternatives to the stuff, alternatives to the stuff, including solarization, anaerobic soil disinfestation and natural pesticides. And it’s especially important to use safe materials only in strawberries, which hold the chemicals they’re treated with.

Okay there you have it. Just another reason to go organic, especially with strawberries.

Benefits Of Yoga For Cancer Patients

NHE — Fri, 21 May 2010 16:08:11 +0000

There is a new study that was just released explaining that there could be some pretty solid benefits of doing Yoga for cancer patients. The study took a large group of cancer patients and had some regularly participate in yoga and others not – and it provided pretty conclusive evidence that yoga helps cancer patients feel better and sleep better.

Here are a few high-lights from the article…

“new research released Thursday ahead of the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting suggests yoga has beneficial effects on sleep quality, fatigue, and overall quality of life in cancer survivors.”

“Compared to how they felt beforehand, the survivors who participated in the yoga program afterward reported improvements in sleep quality and fatigue. Yoga participants also used less sleep medication than they did before the program, while non-yoga participants actually increased their use of sleep medication.”

“Distler said she would “absolutely” recommend the practice for cancer survivors with sleep problems.”

For more, you can read the full article here: Yoga May Help Cancer Patients

Protect yourself against Mandatory Vaccinations from the Government

NHE — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:26:42 +0000

You probably have heard a little bit about the government’s plans to initiate mandatory vaccinations for the Swine Flu Virus. While it seems like something that can only happen in movies, it is very close to being executed…

The United States Emergency Medical Powers Acts and Federal legislation, including the Patriot Acts I, II and III, BARDA and others provide for mandatory vaccination or drugging. No exemptions (religious or otherwise) are provided. Those who refuse will be classified as felons at the State level, subject to immediate incarceration and quarantine of indefinite length in jails or other facilities reserved for such “vaccine refusers.” In a frightening “Big Lie” propaganda move, those who doubt the effectiveness of unproven, uninsurable vaccines are being called ” Vaccine Resisters” and being equated to a new form of “terrorism.”

That means that untested, potentially lethal vaccines and dangerous drugs like Tamiflu could be forced upon people who do not wish them and who would face incarceration or worse if they choose not to accept them. The CDC has said that there would be no exemptions and that there would be “a certain amount of human wastage”. Instead, we demand the right to Self-Shield in our own homes!

Watch the video to find out more…

What You Can Do NOW!!

We must make this demand that the government respect our rights become “viral” through your efforts and result in many hundreds of thousands of messages to decision makers, on the State and Federal levels!

You can fill complete the form below and we will send it to your congressional and state representatives. You can also forward this request to your friends and family.

Click this link to respond to government leaders

The world according to Monsanto DVD

Terrie — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 20:37:48 +0000

I found this 2 hour long documentary about Monsanto which is pretty scary. After watching some of this, you see a scary parallel to what was happening in the movie “Erin Brockovich”. Basically, Monsanto allegedly (or not) covered up a lot of polluting that they were doing in small towns that was the likely cause of dozens of terrible diseases and ultimately lives lost.

I try to take documentaries like this with a grain of salt, since you never know who or what agenda may be behind it, but it is scary nonetheless.