A Healthy and Fit Lifestyle – It’s Definitely Cheaper to Keep Her!

In this episode we discuss the relationship between health and wealth, or in other words how having wealth will make you better off not only in terms of your standard of living, and how poor health will cost you a lot of money. 10% of all the people that work receive 90% of the wages and hold more than 75% of all the wealth in the United States. Wealthy people can expect to live longer, and happier lives and the opposite is true with lower income earners having a higher likelihood of suffering prematurely from disease and death. The factors that contribute to this disparity are inadequate access to medical care, higher rates of behavioral risk factors like smoking and obesity, less access to fresh food and spaces to exercise, and overcrowding living conditions with more susceptibility to disease.

There is no absolute requirement that you be rich to have good health. I view good health largely as the result of your decisions, your actions, and your adherence to the good health and wellness principles you have developed over a long period of time such as exercising and eating healthy, building stress resilience, and avoiding tobacco use and obesity. Being wealthy just makes it more likely you will be inclined to do these things.  Believe it or not medical expenses are the number one cause of bankruptcy in the US and the majority of people who filed had some type of health insurance. This means that health insurance is not enough to cover you financially in the case of significant health disaster. This has not changed even after the Affordable Care Act was signed into law. 

So, being wealthy makes it more likely you will have good health and being financially challenged increases your likelihood of poor health. I’m sure you’re wondering by now whether good health will increase your likelihood of being wealthy? Not exactly, but your chances will be improved as poor health will certainly cost you money. The lifetime savings you can expect to recoup by going from an obese to a healthy weight is estimated to be $36,000 and this is extremely conservative. These savings are due to the higher cost of health insurance (up to twice as much) and more time being spent in the doctor’s office and hospital instead of at work. It is unfortunate and unfair but obese people also earn lower salaries and workplace promotions are fewer. Smoking can cost you a whole lot more money than obesity costing tobacco users an average of $1.1 million over their lifetimes and close to double if you live in a state with high tobacco taxes. Did you know a pack of cigarettes costs more than $13 in New York state? This loss of money is a result of the dollars spent on tobacco products, increased healthcare costs, and lost income.

Our country spends more on healthcare than any other country in the world, so our healthcare maladies are not due to an overwhelming lack of concern. Unfortunately, our quality of care and outcomes, meaning how well patients do, lag behind countries who spend much less on healthcare. The Affordable Care Act, or ObamaCare, is our most recent attempt to reign in healthcare costs while simultaneously improving quality and outcomes. This is accomplished by emphasizing more on preventive care and prevention of disease. You are affected directly by the country’s increased healthcare spending as you are paying more of the share. This comes in the form of higher insurance premiums, increased out-of-pocket maximums, increased co-pays, and increased cost of your prescription medications. These increased costs are not accompanied by improved outcomes or quality.

The professionally beautiful give us insight to the commitment we need to make in our own health. We’ll identify a celebrity who fits the bill.

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