WELLNESS INSURANCE

The world-renowned economist, Paul Zane Pilzer, says most of the purchasing of wellness products and services will eventually be paid for by wellness insurance. Every business will have to offer wellness insurance to their healthy employees in order to keep them from leaving for competitors who do. You can get wellness insurance by combining a high-deductible health insurance policy with a Wellness Savings Account.

Most consumers waste thousands of dollars each year on their health insurance. Any financial advisor will tell you it is foolish to buy insurance covering an expense you can afford to pay for on your own. Think of how inefficient it would be if you had to file a claim with your auto insurance company every time you bought gasoline. How inconvenient would it be if you could only buy gas at a station your insurance company approved?

On the average, health insurance companies spend about 20 percent on overhead. But this is not a true picture. To approve and pay a $10,000 hospital bill might cost the insurance company $500 (5 percent) in overhead. A single doctor visit of $50 could cost $25 (50 percent) in overhead. This is why you can raise your annual deductible to $2,500 and save $3,000 in premium. The major reason employers are not offering higher-deductible health insurance plans is they are locked into providing health care for their entire group; including the 22 percent who consume more than $5,000 each year in medical expenses.

Wellness-oriented employees might be eager to help pay for a child of a coworker struck by leukemia. But, if given a choice these same employees might not be as willing to help pay to treat diseases in a coworker caused by poor diet; hypertension in a coworker 100 pounds overweight due to gluttony not a thyroid problem; or lung disease in a coworker who refuses to stop smoking.

Here is an example of how an individual can redirect $5,000 they or their employer pays for sickness insurance. A typical policy costing $5,000 a year could be switched to a $2,500 deductible policy costing $1,900 per year. The $3,100 difference in premium would be deposited in a Wellness Savings Account at a local bank. A Wellness checkbook and even a Visa debit card could be issued on the account to pay for wellness services. In the event of a major health problem, funds would be available to pay the deductible.

If this plan was started at age 35 and an average of $1000 was spent from the account on wellness each year, at 5% interest there would be almost $140,000 in the account at age 65. If Congress extends the legislation for Medical Savings Accounts, most of the funds contributed to the Wellness Account will be tax deductible. Most wellness-oriented doctors will gladly issue "prescriptions" for fitness training, supplements, and other wellness products.