The $99 health plan brought to you by Sams Club – What does this really offer?

News flash: Sams Club offers a preventative health care plan for under $100 (http://money.cnn.com/2011/01/11/news/companies/sams_club_selling_healthcare_service/index.htm).

Sams club today presented a preventative health care plan for $99 which makes use of the internet, applying the concept of what a financial planner does but to healthcare.  I applaud them for doing this because many people do not regularly go to doctors for various reasons. Here is a way that puts the consumer in control.

“What you get: For $99, buyers of the program get an annual subscription to a web-based program that includes an at-home blood screening test that tracks an individual’s cholesterol, blood sugar and Hemoglobin levels.

That information is then used to create a personalized Prevention Plan that identifies, prioritizes and explains users’ health risks and recommends steps to improve their health.

Buyers of the program also get access to a 24/7 nurse line, two health coaching sessions, recommended prevention screenings, schedule and alerts based on age, gender and risks and a physician summary that can be shown to a doctor.”

As a chiropractor, I look primarily at musculoskeletal health, which affects organ systems in ways we are just beginning to understand (Thomas Meyers book on Anatomy Trains shows deep muscular and organ connections).  While this gives you a light basis for managing your health, it does not substitute for doctors visits and will not cover doctors visits.  If you have a problem, you can prescreen and even discuss it with someone on their 24/7 nurse line.  The problem I see is that from the medical point of view, which this clearly comes from, these basic screenings tell you nothing about the musculoskeletal system, and most nurses and medical providers have little musculoskeletal training to properly advise you.

The good news is that as always, chiropractic care has always been affordable and the cost of an office visit is relatively inexpensive, when compared to many medical visits and the patient satisfaction continues to stay high.

If you do not go to doctors regularly, this may be money well spent, putting you in the doctors chair able to find out when to go to the regular doctor.  If you are using this for advice on back or neck pain or some other complaint, a visit to our office is priceless.