We are talking about health insurance, of course. But maybe not in the way you think.

Health insurance, defined. Let’s look at the individual words, shall we?

• INSURANCE (definition): “a means of protecting or safeguarding against risk or injury”
•        “Any means of guaranteeing against loss or harm”
• HEALTH (definition): “the general condition of the body or mind with reference to soundness or vigor”
•       “soundness of body or mind; freedom from disease or ailment”

So health insurance could easily be “a means of protecting the soundness of body or mind”.  What better way to “safeguard against injury to the general condition of the body or mind” than taking care of yourself, learning to fuel your body with the nutrition it craves, figuring out how to deal with stress and worry through things like sleep and mindfulness and exercise, and getting stronger through carefully curated exercise routines?

I know this isn’t generally what we think of when we think of health insurance. For me, my eyes glaze over at the mention of deductibles, “gold silver platinum” PPO. In-network and out-of-network. A cafeteria plan or an HSA. Wading through acres of paperwork to find that, actually, down in the third paragraph on page 8 is the real deal: “We won’t actually cover anything that happens to you that you have not planned for or you don’t let us know about right now, before you sign on the dotted line, and we reserve the right to deny you coverage for anything, even something we specifically say we cover, just because most people won’t fight us and we can make even more money.” Most health insurance plans are there with people hoping against hope they never have to use them.

Health insurance has an open enrollment period, kind of like a limited access thing. You have a certain time period where you can sign up for it (and yeah, you still have to pay for it . . .) and if you miss the deadline, then POOF you’re out of luck until the next time around.

I’m taking health insurance back to being what you can do for yourself. Like a more common “health insurance” plan, this one comes with an open enrollment period. Like those plans, this one closes after the deadline. Like those plans, this one requires a commitment.

That’s where the similarity ends. This one has no loopholes. No unexpected fees or surprise “this isn’t covered.” No weaseling out of it. This one comes with help and accessibility, support and motivation. Where the intention is that you actually USE it.

Start 2017 with an insurance plan that does more than protect your pocketbook.

Protect your health.

Join the Wellness Revolution today.