October 2004. Do you remember hoola hoops? Are you old enough to have had one or two of them as a kid? Or do kids today still have them? As a youngster growing up in the 70's I had one all the time and used to love to hike it up to my hips and twirl it around. In fact, I believe I could twirl it rather well on my arms and legs as well. Twirling the hoola hoop was a lot of fun, and great exercise.

And then there are the animals that jump through them. That's really what comes to mind with today's article. You know...dogs and cats that perform by jumping through them. Or better still, that jump through multiple hoops as they are presented at different heights, or in a jump-rope fashion. Isn't that amazing? Animals sure are smart, and their trainers are amazing people.

I guess hurdles are part of this discussion as well. Hurdlers are amazing athletes, too, in that they jump repeatedly over obstacles in their path racing ever onward for the prize.

But in reality the hoops and hurdles that I am really thinking of today are life's hoops and hurdles. The ones that aren't pink and sparkly -- the hoops that aren't enjoyable, the hurdles that aren't planned in an orderly fashion. No, these hoops and hurdles are the unplanned ones, the despicable ones, the sneaky put-you-at-your-wits-end ones! Let me tell you about my latest. It involves the medical industry and its topic is very timely given that we are in the midst of an presidential election that involves medical reform and national employment.

I have had Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina medical insurance for the last 5 years or so...that is until just recently. As a self-employed individual they seem to be about the only option around here, and they have always been a good option. I have been grateful that they exist and have always been very happy with them...until just recently.

The kink in my medical coverage occurred about 6 months ago when I decided to leave them to use my new husband's insurance coverage which was less expensive for about the same amount of coverage. You know, his company paid for some of it which made it advantageous to switch. However, as luck would have it, his employment ended shortly thereafter which made it necessary to re-enroll with Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina.

Remember that they previously covered me for the last 5 years or so, and consider that in that entire time with them I was given a healthy lifestyle discount. If you have spent much time on my site, you know that if anyone deserves a healthy lifestyle discount, it's me, right? Well, in the process of re-enrolling, and as the honest individual that I am, I included the words "arthritis" and "chiropractor" which I guess are big red flags. As you know from my web site, I've had a couple of bad accidents and have had some pain in my hands which has been treated as arthritis, even though it has never been diagnosed as such, and hasn't been treated in some years now.

In addition, due to putting my body through so much good stress in the form of exercise, my skeletal muscle pulls on my spinal column which needs to be re-adjusted once a month or so (it has been many months since I've had an adjustment since getting massage and my husband's healing touch on a regular basis) -- all of which was honestly disclosed in my application and thoroughly discussed in my screening interview.

My husband, on the other hand, hasn't been to a doctor in the last 5 years and indicate that in our application. Their only question of him in his inteview was "can you please confirm your middle name?" That's it. No medical screening in 5 years and guess what? He automatically gets a "healthy lifestyle" premium assigned to him. No considering what might have been going on behind the scenes, no pre-insurance physical, no questions about blood pressure or fasting blood glucoes, no questions about anything at all...no consideration that men typically don't go to the doctor even when they absolutely should and are often diagnosed with conditions that are advanced because they wait and wait until the trouble is so bad that they can't stand it.

On the other hand, can you guess what premium I was assigned? Not a healthy lifestyle rate even though all of my medical records, WHICH THEY HAVE, indicate an athlete's blood pressure, resting heart rate, weight, and all other factors are at excellent levels. They didn't even give me a normal premium. Nope. At the mention of the two words above they automatically set me at an increased premium.

Of course I was confused and acknowledged the fact that they just didn't look at the medical records WHICH THEY HAVE and wrote them a nice letter. In fact, it was this letter....

Dear Risk Assessment Department, I am in possession of our recently-approved medical insurance coverage and thank you for underwriting our family. I, however, am confused as to the assessment given my premium rate and wish to appeal it. Primarily, I wish to point out that I was recently covered by you – within the last year, and after a physical and more extensive initial interview, was provided a “healthy lifestyle” discount. This time, however, just a few months later, I have moved from there and beyond the “normal” premium to an “Increased Rate” due to health history? That is amazing to me. Please allow me to point out that except for a recent trip to the doctor for a tricep muscle spasm which was tested as normal in all ways, you have my past 5 years of medical history. You will see that I am never sick. I have a once-yearly gynecological exam, but that’s about it. When everyone else is suffering from colds and flu, I am not. When everyone else is suffering from allergies, I am not. I am amazingly healthy! Even though in the past I have had pain that might have been arthritis, it is gone. I haven’t been treated for it in at least 5 years. And though I might have been a smoker as a youngster, I have been smoke-free for nearly 10 years, and even though I may have been involved in a motorcycle accident when I was 23 which shattered both of my ankles, I have not been treated for it in 16 years. In addition, I am a certified “Health and Fitness Instructor.” Not only do I help 20-30 sessions a week of clients lift weights, but I have individual clients that I walk and run with, each week I lead two 2 mile walking club sessions, two 4 mile running club sessions (yes I run them), have Saturday Morning Boot Camps (which I perform) and 7 Mile Trail Walks and Runs (which I lead), all in addition to my own workouts! At the most, I require a monthly massage and chiropractic manipulation simply due to the amount of workload my body is able to handle. I am the most healthy and fit person I know! And…my resting heart rate is 50, my blood pressure is 100/60, my cholesterol is low, my body fat is 13%, my height is 5’4”, my weight is 122, my fasting blood sugar is 70-80 and all other known indicators are exceptionally healthy. .....

And as any good beaurocratic non-customer-oriented monopolistic entity will do, their standard letter back to me (hoops and hurdles) was that if I wanted to appeal, I must, at my own expense, obtain all of my medical records from the past 5 years and send them to them. God forbid, they look for themselves.

Have a happy autumn!

Angela

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