Is it worth it to be healthy? The obvious answer is "Yes!" (Or maybe, "DUH!!")
But what are the numbers? According to this:
Someone without a chronic illness pays an average of $182 a year in out-of-pocket health expenses, compared with $369 in out-of-pocket payments by patients with one chronic illness and $1,106 for someone battling three or more.
Total annual health costs for someone with one chronic illness are more than five times higher than for a healthy person - $6,032 vs. $1,105 - and rise even higher the more disabling the chronic illness.
There is no question that chronic health conditions are costly. And I know a little something about chronic conditions myself. That's why I started a company and wrote a book!
(I have overheard my son telling people, "For all the success Pat has had in software, it is amazing how much more he knows about all this health stuff." And then he likes to joke, "I haven't figured out if that's a good thing or not yet." The boy reminds me of myself! ;-)
At Jigsaw Health, we define chronic conditions as "any health related issue that has been resistant to a quick fix." Getting to the root cause of the problem does require money, much persistance, and usually changes in diet and lifestyle. Start here for my 18-year shortcut.
