We have the greatest healthcare system in the world, or so we have been led to believe. It is certainly the costliest. In 1995, I had just begun a wheatgrass business and had a greenhouse where people came in and out and sometimes shared with me some of their experiences with health. A neighbor to the greenhouse once came in and shared with me his wife’s experience.

In July of 1993, medical doctors upon finding a huge tumor in her colon the size of a small grapefruit removed it and put her into intensive care, where she remained until January of 1994. At that time she died. He related that the total cost of that illness approached the amount of four hundred thousand dollars! That was horrific! The really sad and horrific thing was though that she died anyway. I am sure that he was thankful to have had health insurance.

Is health insurance necessary? If a person wishes to lead a hedonistic life and chooses to smoke, drink alcohol, take drugs of all kinds, including over the counter and prescription drugs, eat anyplace, anytime, anything he or she so desires, then yes, health insurance is necessary. In this day, even if a person is careful, and eats the typical American Diet and avoids certain processed food, then yes, health insurance is necessary.

Certainly, it is necessary to have some type of accident insurance to protect vulnerable members of ones family. Certainly it might be necessary to have some type of insurance if one is in the childbearing years.

The year, 2006, saw a 7.7 percent increase in the price of health insurance which was a smaller increase than had been seen in a few years. Dr. Drew Altman, president and chief executive of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which tracks the annual cost of health insurance said, “To working people and business owners, a reduction in an already very high rate of increase just means you’re still paying more.” Since the year 2000, health insurance premiums have gone up 78 percent, versus wages which have gone up 20 percent.

More than 155 million Americans get their health insurance through their jobs. Employers usually pick up 84 percent of the cost for individuals and 73 percent for families. Sixty-one percent of businesses offer health insurance. (Kevin Frecking, Associated Press, Yahoo News Sept 26, 2006)

So, what is the overall cost of health insurance? For individuals, the cost averages $4,242. per year. For families, the average cost is $11,800. per year.

This might sound reasonable to my neighbor who would have had to fork up nearly $400,000. dollars for his wife’s illness.

However the massive reality here is that she died anyway! $400,000 dollars expended for her illness and she died anyway! Truly tell me, what is the use of having it? One is protecting himself from ever having a major illness cause bankruptcy, but the important thing here, human life, the life of a cherished loved one, is not protected.

Is this reasonable? Many young families in our society don’t even gross $11,800 per year.

Should all the rest of the people in the US be required to pay more taxes so that unknowing or careless people can have some type of insurance? Do we want to foot the bill for people who say what the heck, I am going to die anyway. I might as well enjoy myself in the meantime. Eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.

Let us also examine the state of a stay in the hospital these days. We have just seen how expensive it can be. Is it safe? A man named “Lance Peterson who is a disease investigator, reports that he was stunned when he found out that a lethal bacterium was three times more common in his Illinois hospital system than the rate found anywhere in the US.” (Bloomberg.com, Sept. 27, 2006).

Hospital infections kill 92,000 per year. This statistic comes from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.

It is conclusive that we live in a dangerous society. Should we endanger ourselves even more by entering a hospital?

The radical approach that we suggest is to take responsibility for ones self in only one area of life. That way is by controlling the main ingredient that affects the health of the body—what we put in it 3 times per day.

In the 1950’s, Ann Wigmore pioneered a radical approach to carefully care for the human body. Her approach was two-fold in that it actually took people who were already extremely ill and guided them into a diet that would heal their illness. Secondly her diet was instructive for those who wish never to become ill. Her basic diet consisted of living food and wheatgrass juice.

Ann Wigmore’s diet was based upon the age old philosophy of Hippocrates, father of medicine, who said, “Let your food be your medicine.”