Gearing Down, Part 8 -- Health

Health is another place where there is a strong tendency to pursue false economies in response to a sudden downturn in one's financial situation. This is compounded by the problems of maintaining one's health insurance, and thus access to health care, if one becomes unemployed or is shifted to part-time. Whether the Affordable Care Act has really done anything to remedy that situation is a highly partisan issue and beyond the scope of this article, but in general the loss of employer-provided health insurance means facing a precarious situation, particularly if one should develop any serious illness or injury.

As a result, we have horror stories of people ignoring symptoms of serious medical conditions because they fear that treatment would bankrupt them and leave them penniless, even homeless. In one case, a woman ignored symptoms of a heart attack until it killed her because she was afraid that getting treatment might result in her losing her paid-off home, which had enabled her to keep her expenses low enough to support herself as a freelance writer.

Sadly, these situations are generally preventable, for the simple reason that while getting health care without health insurance may be difficult and expensive, it is almost always possible when one is dealing with a potentially life-threatening condition. The biggest problem is knowing how, and being willing to ask the right questions and knowing who to ask them.

For instance, it is almost always possible to negotiate a payment plan for medical expenses. As long as you can show a good-faith willingness to pay something, most doctors and hospitals will be willing to work with you to find an affordable arrangement. It is in their interest to get something, and if they put your back to the wall and you declare bankruptcy, it's completely possible that they will get nothing at all.

Also, it's possible to get low-cost or free health services. However, the biggest challenge is often finding out where they are available in your area. A snippy "there are places where you can get X" is one of the most unhelpful pieces of advice around, and often leaves its recipient feeling worse about a bad situation instead of better. It doesn't help to be told that places exist to help you if you haven't the least idea how to find the ones that exist where you live. One place to start is religious organizations that help the poor, such as the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. If they do not have a free or low-cost clinic of their own, they often know who does. Also, social services organizations may be able to help, although many of them are chronically understaffed and may not be as willing to go the distance to be helpful as those for whom charitable work is part of their spiritual life.

Even if you're not currently dealing with illness or injury, you don't want to let false economies damage your health. It's very tempting to neglect your health when under the stress of economic hard times. Even basics like regular exercise, proper nutrition and adequate sleep can seem like unaffordable luxuries when you feel the weight bearing down on you of constantly having too much month at the end of the money no matter how hard you scrimp and save. But when you're in financial trouble is exactly the time when you can't afford to let careless habits damage your health. Even if you have to drop your gym membership, you can still find ways to exercise at home. Eating cheaply doesn't have to mean eating nothing but crap foods, if you know how to shop wisely and learn how to cook unfamiliar foods. Sleep may be the most difficult thing, since sleep is not something one can obtain by application of willpower -- in fact, trying to buckle down and will oneself to sleep often backfires. But you can at least make sure to schedule adequate rest time, and try to put your worries out of your mind in hopes of drifting off to sleep.

In many ways, your health may be your most valuable asset in bad times, but because it's often an invisible one, it's easy to let slip away.

Don't Waste Your Health Care Dollars

If you think you have the flu, don't waste your time or your money badgering your doctor for a prescription for antibiotics. Flu, including the current swine flu, is caused by a virus.

Antibiotics only work against bacteria. If you do develop a secondary bacterial infection as a result of your body being weakened by influenza or another viral infection, antibiotics will help those secondary infections. Until then, taking antibiotics will not help keep you well, and in fact may lead to worse sickness. First, the excessive or incorrect use of antibiotics can lead to the development of resistant strains of bacterial illnesses, so that the antibiotics won't work when you really do need them. Secondly, antibiotics purge all the bacteria in your body indiscriminately, including the helpful bacteria that are normally resident in your gut and help you gain nourishment from your food.

So save your money for medicines that will actually help you get and stay well.

Staying Healthy in Hard Times

You've probably been hearing about the swine flu outbreak that's spreading around the world from Mexico. Especially if you're without health insurance or afraid you soon may be losing your employer-provided health insurance, the thought of rapidly spreading deadly illness will be particularly terrifying. How will you pay for care if you get sick?

First and foremost, don't panic. Fear can lead us to do counterproductive things, even harmful ones. Remember that even if you have no money, there are still ways to obtain essential medical care. Most cities have free clinics that can provide some basic health care, and there is at least one hospital at which the emergency room will treat anyone with a life-threatening illness or injury, no matter their financial situation.

Second, remember that prevention is the best medicine. There are many ways to avoid becoming infected in the first place, including such basics as regular hand-washing and avoiding people who are ill. You may already have cut back on driving in order to reduce gas costs, but it will also help you avoid being exposed to people who are ill.

Eating healthful foods and keeping rested may seem easier said than done. After all, it seems like crap carbs and fats are always cheaper than good, solid fruits and vegetables, and if you're working three part-time jobs in an effort to keep ahead of your bills, sleep's one of the first things to get sacrificed. But this is a good time to jettison the junk foods you piece on without even thinking about and cut back to only those foods you actually eat as part of a meal, with a plate and silverware. And you may want to re-examine some of your non-work activities and see if some of them can go by the wayside without too much pain.

And you might just find that you feel better even without a looming pandemic to spur you on.