I have always been a fan of high deductible health insurance.  Insurance is for unthinkable risks, not everyday expenses.  For years I have had a $5,000 deductible policy for my family.  Before I had an HSA, I just set the deductible money aside and used it as needed to cover out of pocket expenses.  When HSAs became available, I was happy to be able to deduct those expenses.

I have often wondered why more people don’t do this, and it may be because most folks would spend the $5,000 deductible funds on other things… but I think I may have come up with a way to fix the problem for at least some of these folks.

I was reading a blog post (and an NPR story) about health care co-ops.  It seems when folks are actively involved in groups (the stories are specifically about evangelical Christian groups that created health care co-ops), their health care is significantly reduced.  It is also true that people with social connections are happier, and happier people tend to get sick less often.

The idea of the co-op is that thousands of people pay less than $300 a month for family coverage that covers up to $100,000 a year in health care expenses. Note: they will not cover health care expenses for abortions or STDs.  I pay about $300 a month for my health insurance, but remember the first $5,000 is not covered.

This got me thinking… Why not mix the two ideas? What if there was a co-op of high social capital people that would toss in a few dollars a month to cover the difference between, say $500 and $5,000?  I bet the cost would be very little, since most socially highly involved people have fewer healthcare costs overall.  This would reduce the cost to a manageable number for those without $5,000 in an account for deductibles, and give them courage to accept the higher deductible policy.

Seems something like this could be done on a governmental level… maybe a state level.  Then states would encourage people to get and stay connected to groups… and they could help their citizens.  The way health insurance is sold (different policies and requirements per state), it could not be national in scope.

Any state legislators reading?  I think it’s an idea that ought to be batted about.

Is the co-op idea how some dentists offer special insurance-like programs?  Is there a way for dentists to offer high deductible insurance with a co-op to cover anything in the middle?

The morning was already too hot.  I was on my way into work.  It was July in the mid 1990′s.  I despised my heavy winter coat laying on the seat next to me.  I realized I had slid to the lowest rung that a computer programmer could fear.  I had been assigned for the past several months to work on IBM mainframe assembly code on a project that had shipped a decade earlier.  I had to use the terminal in the 58 degree temperature controlled windowless mainframe room to do my programming.  The company valued the project so little that they didn’t even provide terminal emulation software that would allow me to debug the code from a cubicle.  I had to take breaks to warm my hands and get the feeling back in them.

I was finding ever more difficult to show up in the morning.  I had destroyed my career and future.  No one would want to hire me after working on such an assignment…  and so went my thoughts.  On one of my ever increasing breaks from the cold room, Tim Draper pulled me aside.

Tim was one of my co-workers.  I didn’t know him well, but as it turned out, he was one of the best friends I have ever had.  Tim, on that fateful day, pulled me into his room.  He told me that he was seeing in me some of the things that he was learning to see in himself, with the help of a counselor.  He told me that he suffered from clinical depression, and he thought I might be too.  Boy… was he right!  Tim told me about some books that his counselor was having him read.  I felt like a drowning man being tossed a life preserver… and Tim’s actions did save my life.  My thoughts had begun the slippery slide into self destruction.

I almost ran out the door to go to a book store to buy the books he suggested.  And so began my journey into CBT (cognitive behavior therapy), neural-plasticity, and positive psychology.  I learned that there were deeper levels of depression that I could still sink into… but that knowledge gave me hope.  I immersed myself in CBT and used those tools to pull myself to a higher plane… and the timing could not have been better.

Three weeks after Tim pulled me aside, I was asked to visit with my supervisor.  I was being laid-off (and would never see Tim Draper again).  The company outsourced my work to India.  Instead of being despondent, I was filled with anticipation for the future.  I was excited to see what would come.  I had no idea how I would make it… but I knew that with my new CBT tool-set I could face the world and be productive.

I share this information in order to give hope to those that may be reading this that may not fill fulfilled, may be slipping into depression, may not feel happy.  It is said that dentists are one of the most depressed professionals… I wonder about that… even more than attorneys? hmmm… that’s got to be bad.

A book I am reading right now talks about the level of stress and depression that Harvard students feel.  It is seemingly incongruous.  These folks have been at the top of their class from the time they were in preschool.  They have it all… the opportunities that await them are extraordinary, and yet they are some of the most depressed people in America.  They have bought into the idea that success brings happiness.  I have learned that success does not bring happiness, but that happiness brings success.  Happy people are more successful than those who are depressed or even those that are merely even-keeled.

If you are a dentist that fits into the state of mind that I was in, there is hope.  Think of me as your personal Tim Draper.  Read Learned Optimism as a starter.  It’s not a new book anymore, so it will be cheap and easy to find on Amazon. Then read The Happiness Advantage (this one’s much newer).  Both these books use the tools of CBT without digging into the gory details the the first book I read did.  Seligman had just started creating the field of Positive Psychology back then.  If you find these tools helpful to you, thank Tim Draper, and then become Tim Draper.