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Factors Determining The Costs To Preserve Health

In an ideal world, no cost is too high to preserve health, but the unfortunate reality of health care pricing is almost always a factor in deciding which treatment approaches to take.

High Cost of Health Care Worldwide

How expensive is health care?

In an article on public health insurance in the New York Times, Peter Singer illustrates the crisis in health care with the following analogy: “You have advanced kidney cancer. It will kill you, probably in the next year or two. A drug called Sutent slows the spread of the cancer and may give you an extra six months, but at a cost of $ 54,000. Is a few more months worth that much?”

Another example: An advanced prostate cancer treatment which could extend a person’s life by more than 3 months, remove pain, and revive energy is not approved by the National Health Care Service in the United Kingdom because it costs £3000 per month ($ 3,899.70).

Health Care for Drug and Alcohol Rehab

Insufficient health care is particularly hard on those who require the service of Drug and Rehab centers to recover from addictions. So, if you’re asking about how much does drug rehab cost, then the answer to that question is fairly complex. It’s not simply about stating a range of prices. Moreover, if you’re asking the question what you really want to know is how much you can afford to pay to make a complete recovery.

Drug rehab facilities work on changing a person’s behavior so that they can regain normal work and family life. Due to the diversity of options available, it’s impossible to talk about the cost of treatment in a generic way. There is no single treatment plan, but many different approaches offered by different facilities.

  • Some specialize in a specific drug addiction while others will offer a broader range of services.
  • Some specialize by demographics; for instance, age or gender, to create a more harmonious environment for patients.
  • Some are basic, others are luxury treatment centers.
  • Some have a cutting edge program staffed by medical doctors, psychiatrists, and psychologists.
  • Some offer 12 step programs with certified drug and alcohol counselors (i.e. non-academicians who have received specialized education).

Figuring out costs, then, is about asking some basic questions:

  1. Is it a luxury facility in a secluded setting the reputation?
  2. What is the reputation of the facility? If it’s got the best treatment facilities and the most highly qualified staff, it’s going to cost a lot more.
  3. What type of financing is available? How much will your government or private insurance cover? How much financial assistance does the facility offer? Many times, you can get the best treatments if you can manage the payment arrangements.
  4. What programs are being offered? Is it an inpatient or an outpatient facility? Outpatient is far less expensive.

Costs Determined By National Health Care Policies

Your decision about how much you can afford for health care is determined by the health care policies of country you live in. Let’s take a look at the role the national health care system has in the United Kingdom and the United States to understand how this plays a huge role.

1. Health Care in the United Kingdom: In the UK, the National Health Care Service provides all permanent residents with free health care. The money for health care is paid for from general taxation. However, even in the UK, the best treatments are not covered by the NHS for different health care issues. While everyone in the UK is eligible for treatment, the best treatments come from private facilities, which require people to fund their own treatment or have private insurance.

2. Health Care in the United States: Health care costs in the United States are highly controversial because of politics and commercial interests. Consequently, Americans with insufficient insurance can’t get proper health care because out-of-pocket costs far exceed their ability to pay, even if they are in the six figure income bracket. While the Affordable Health Care Act created by President Obama sought to address this issue of making health care affordable, the new Health Care Act initiated by President Trump currently awaiting Senate approval proposes to reverse the Affordable Health Care. In short, millions of Americans who finally managed to get health care under the Affordable Health Care Act will now no longer be able to get enough insurance, even if they are in a health crisis.

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5 Healthy Snacks You Should Avoid at All Costs

Truth be told, a lot of people are confused when it comes to identifying snacks that are really healthy. Even popular labels like “sugar-free” and “organic” tend to mislead us. You should know that not all claims are true and are made for the sake of enticing you to buy. More often than not, these conflicting health messages are the reason why you haven’t reached your optimal health.

If you want to keep your body fit and energized through snacking, you must know which snack foods are disguised as healthy so you can start avoiding them. The best part is that you won’t be led astray because we have compiled a list of these seemingly healthy snacks.

Do you want to know what these foods are? Read on.

1. Breakfast cereals

Think that a sugary bowl of colorful breakfast cereals can replace a balanced breakfast? You might want to reconsider. While a lot of cereal boxes include the labels “fortified with vitamins” and “whole grain,” they do you more harm than good.

Nearly all breakfast cereals have high sugar content and are loaded with refined carbohydrates. Since they’re refined, a lot of their nutrients are stripped off. They also contain preservatives to last longer in stores.

2. Rice cakes

During the 1990s, rice cakes were considered as great diet snacks for people who wanted to lose weight. Rice cakes can easily be mistaken as less sugary than our favorite cookies and chocolates because of their plain appearance.

Don’t be deceived by the looks of rice cakes. They are classified as high-glycemic foods and have a glycemic index of 91. This means that eating them for snacks leads to a spike in your blood sugar levels. If you’re looking to be more healthy and productive at work, rice cakes are a terrible choice.

3. Pretzels

Pretzels are really tasty and portable. No wonder, people eat them during lunch breaks or while traveling. However, pretzels are void nutrition and are as unhealthy as the dips, coatings, and flavorings that accompany them.

According to Kate Patton, a registered dietician at the Cleveland Clinic, pretzels are high in sodium, sugar, and calories. Therefore, when eaten repetitively, this snack raises your blood pressure and puts you at risk for diabetes and obesity.

4. Fruity gummies

Various brands want you to think that their newly advertised pack of fruity gummy snacks contain a handful of vitamins from fruits that nourish your kids. Busy parents commonly fall for this staple snack to save them from preparing a healthy snack themselves.

We’re sorry to break your bubble but fruit chews contain harmful ingredients such as colorings and preservatives. Digging deeper, fruit chew snacks have high fructose corn syrup that puts you at risk for chronic diseases. Always choose natural, organic fruits!

5. Energy drinks

How many times have you been promised by a certain energy drink to boost your mental and physical performance? Although you would actually feel these benefits, at the end of the day no one can deny that these are still commercial products that contain high sugar and high caffeine.

If you aim for more powerful workouts and better performance during work days, why not choose a cold glass of water and munch on a natural protein-rich and fiber-rich snack instead? There are countless, delicious options like bananas, berries, tuna, and oatmeal.

Conclusion

To transform your dietary habits for good, swap unhealthy packaged snacks for natural ones. Get started by making nutritionally dense snacks easily accessible in your home. Make time for food preparation. If you need to be reminded of healthy snacks that aren’t really healthy, feel free to check this list again!

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