Our patients are saving their insurance companies so much money. Let me explain without screaming about the issue from an employers point view, a mom's point of view, a daughter's point of view, and an insured's point of view. People happily choose medical care that results in improvements in their health; across the U.S. and the world people pay out of pocket because the care they seek works.

When our courageous patients embark on the road to health they actually improve and get better due to treatment regimes that do not tax their organ systems, increasing their toxic load but rather help the body return to normal function. As people age they forget how good they used to feel and when they regain their strength and improve their health and feel good again they know they have chosen the right wellness and medical path. People would not continue down a path of treatment unless it was working in a center like ours. Yet their insurance companies seldom reimburse their care. Office visits are covered, but if the treatments involve real results and have something to do with nutrients they are out of luck for reimbursement.

Here are the stats. The Pennsylvania Guide to Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery report of 2004 looked at 13,360 CABG surgeries performed in Pennsylvania hospitals at an average charge of over $99,000. In our medical center a person with coronary artery disease can undergo a series of treatments and life style changes and avoid surgery for a cost of $7,000 to $15,000 depending on the severity of their illness and their participation in the diet and lifestyle changes that are commonly expected of someone with known heart disease. How is that for one example of savings.

Our patients avoid surgery altogether or avoid second surgeries and that results in a tremendous savings for the insurance companies and Medicare. Our patients pay for these programs out of their pockets, for the most part, and therefore have something invested in their health. They probably give us more cooperation than normal cardiac programs but nevertheless there is a real lesson here. Free people who are willing to do something to find out about various alternatives to expensive, invasive medicine pay out of pocket for treatments that work. Would they pay out of pocket if the treatments did not benefit them? I think not. People who can barely walk around block regain their health and go back to work, golf and other active lifestyles and in the process save their insurance carriers a great deal of money. I am talking about people who have known disease. We see all medical parameters improve, we have the clinical results and those results are measured by their cardiologists, not us.

It is time for all of us to change the way medical care is delivered in this country. Everyone who seeks alternative, inexpensive treatment protocols need to write their insurance companies with their personal stories and a demand for financial consideration. Do a little research and include some information on what you have saved your insurance company. Attend stock holders meetings and let them know how much you have saved them in payouts.

We think medical savings accounts are a step in the right direction but not if some company, apart from the person and his/her doctor, determine what those funds can be spent on. We certainly do not think insurance companies or the government programs should ever pick up the cost of oral nutrient programs or diet recommendations but the more extensive protocols could be reimbursed at 50% and we would see a severe drop in medical costs in all sectors of medicine.

People seek and find things that work, they are not easily swayed sheep who need a benefactor to protect them. At the same time the purse strings always dictate where and how the money should be spent. Why can't insurance carriers see the benefits in alternative medicine for their stockholders? We think it is false data, they listen to the wrong advice and they operate on very bad data. They are costing their stockholders millions of lost medical dollars and dollars spent unnecessarily for treatment outcomes that are mediocre or lead to more and more expensive interventions. We need to help them discover the path to cost effective and health effective care!! Coleen Maulfair