Recently I applied to get a quote on a life insurance policy I saw advertised on one web page I had visited.  They promised lower rates.  I have a policy already that costs about $80 a month, and thought I might be able to get one a little cheaper.  After filing out the info in the ad, one of their reps called me and said that i could get a policy for about $60 a month for the same coverage.  Well, anything to save money, so I went ahead with the application.

He asked me the usual questions, and then wanted "medical" info.  You know, like, who is my MD, when did I have a physical last, can they get copies of my medical files.  I told him, "I have no MD, there are no medical records, and I have never had a physical!"  I told him I'm a chiropractor and that I adhere to the chiropractic philosophy of health and that I have no need for MD's. I also told him that I run 4 days a week and lift weights. I told him that I have a 32 inch waste, just as I had in high school over 40 years ago. He was actually cool with that, and said that he will still have to send someone to the house to do the usual blood and pee tests, and get some vitals.  That was ok.

The nurse came here two weeks ago, and asked me the same questions: who is my MD, etc.  I told her the same answer.  Then last week, I received a call from a woman saying she was the underwriter and had a couple of questions.  She asked, "Who is your MD, when was the last time you had a physical, and can we get copies of your medical records?'  I gave her the same answers.

I expected this, of course.  It is just amazing that there is no room for another way of thinking about one's health.  It has to be medical or nothing at all.  Well, tonight was the icing on the cake.  I received a call from the original fellow I talked with and said that he had the policy ready.  It was going to cost me about $100 a month because my lipid levels were a little high, and since I had no MD to help "get them down to normal levels" I was considered a higher health risk.

To be fair, he said he went to bat for me and told them that I lead a different lifestyle.  I'm not their typical 61 year old and that I am very healthy.  But it did no good.  I told him that I find it amazing that I am not on any medications, have no history of health problems, that I lead a lifestyle that promotes health. And yet  if I were to start on Statin drugs that artificially lower cholesterol, i.e. drugs that are known to cause liver disease and actually PROMOTE heart disease, then I would be a BETTER risk, and they would be able to insure me for the lower premium.  How screwed up is that????

My friends, we live in an insane world.  When I was a little boy, I started to write a book called "The World of Opposite".  It was a story about a man who travels to another planet to find that everything there is the opposite of what it is here.  Sometimes I feel like I am now living in that world.  Sickness and things that make us sick are promoted as the way to live our lives, and wellness and things that we do to promote wellness are looked down upon and shunned.  God help us.