DIY Health Care is Growing

The New York Times reports on the growing trend of do-it-yourself health care amongst young adults in America. It’s no surprise that the 20 something demographic is largely uninsured, but recent rounds of layoffs have inflated those numbers substantially.

With insurance premiums, and out of pocket health care costs rising up to ridiculous new heights, people have had no other choice but to take health care into their own hands. From swapping medications to using the internet to self-diagnose, the uninsured are finding creative ways to make due without official intervention. Others are trying their best to live healthy lives as a hedge against future problems. But, although eating right and exercising can go a long way towards promoting health, what happens when a big problem pops up out of the blue? Health professionals are also concerned that mis-diagnosis and using the wrong medicines could lead to even worse problems.

There are of course, clear dangers to becoming your own doctor, but the successful examples of DIY health care show that perhaps people can be more self-sufficient than you’d think. This could also point to the emergence of a new smaller, cheaper alternative health care market to replace the outrageously expensive mainstream model.

[via NYT]