The Biggest Choice Everyone Must Make in Health Care: The Choice to Take Command of Our Health

If you're a married man like me, you probably have a list of things your wife would like you to do. They are good things, important things, necessary things — things you fully plan on doing — just not today. Or tomorrow.

I ignored one of the things on my list — and it almost cost me my life. For 10 years — from 30-40 — my wife would regularly ask me to go to the doctor for a routine checkup. I was in great shape—I played a lot of basketball and felt no need to spend money just to have a doctor say I was A-OK. Somewhere in that decade, I promised my wife that I would go to the doctor when I turned 40. Four years after I turned 40, I finally darkened the door of a very surprised doctor in 2002.

Soon enough, though, I was the one who was in for a surprise.

My routine checkup led to an endoscopy/colonoscopy. A few weeks later I learned that I had Stage 3 colon cancer, which carried with it a 50 percent chance of being alive five years later. I had no known symptoms. The surgery was successful, my course of treatment was smooth, and my friends and family prayed for me and with me fervently. Today, I'm a cancer survivor.

For me as with so many others, my test became my testimony because I decided I was going to take command of my health and invite others to join me. That decision — to take charge and be an evangelist to other seemingly healthy men to get a routine checkup — was transformational. I wrote some articles urging men to engage with their doctors. Soon I began telling my story to groups of men.

I began to more actively engage in understanding what drives the cost of health care, what choices individuals can make, how the right decisions at the right time can save families thousands of dollars, and the importance of sharing information with friends and families.

While recovering from colon cancer I read an article about a marathon in Antarctica. I called the local Colon & Rectal Foundation and asked if I could use the marathon in Antarctica as a way to get some publicity. They thought it was a joke, but they put me in touch with a young woman, Kristin, whose sister had just died of colon cancer.

The family wanted to start a 5K race and call it "Get Your Rear in Gear." Long story short, I took a satellite phone to Antarctica and did interviews. The goal was to get 500 people to the 5K. We had 3,000.

As a result, we co-formed a nonprofit called the Colon Cancer Coalition and set a goal of having a 5K "Get Your Rear in Gear" event in all 50 states. As a way to raise money and get publicity, I said I would run a marathon on all seven continents. Fast forward to the present: we have "Get Your Rear in Gear" 5K races around the country as well as many "Tour de Tush" bike events, and we raise about $2 million a year to build awareness and encourage screenings. Do those who think one person can't impact health care? Well, yes you can.

Improving knowledge about health care and making wiser decisions are the first two legs of the stool, but in America, we have to deal with the third leg: the enormous cost of paying for our health. We know that we can take command of what we do and do not eat, and how much we do or do not exercise, but many Christians don't realize how much control they have over the cost and quality of their health care. That's why 90 percent of people in our country have the wrong kind and level of health care plans—and they're paying too much for it and getting too little out of it.

For instance, virtually every Christian has "a card but no coverage" — that is, a health care plan with deductibles and co-pays so high that it provides little or no relief when you actually need to receive medical care. But there is a much better way.

That's why I teamed up with TakeCommandHealth.com and Thrivent Financial to launch HealthValues.org, which empowers Christians to quickly compare major medical plans with health sharing ministries and discover how other tools like gap-insurance policies and Health Saving Accounts (HSAs) can result in more protection and peace of mind and less worry and anxiety.

I've learned that none of us are immune from health issues, but each of us has a responsibility to make the best choices possible. Our "health values" can lead to better stewardship of our health and our finances.

But it all starts with the decision: Act now. Take command. Be in charge.

Jeff Smedsrud is recognized as a leading expert adviser on how consumers can become empowered when shopping for health care plans. He has built and grown health insurance marketing and business companies for over 25 years and served as a health care reform advocate for much of his career. He was also the founder of the National Association of State Comprehensive Health Plans (NASCHIP) and helped create and sponsor state-based programs in 35 states to assist those denied health insurance for medical reasons. He is Founder and CEO of Pivot Health; Co-Founder of healthcare.com, and Founder and CEO of HealthValues.org.