Billionaire Health Care: Steal My System for Startup Founders
I used to think that as long as I had health insurance and had a checkup once a year, I was doing everything right. Boy, was I wrong.
But I was pretty sure of one thing: if I get sick, the wheels come off. My company, my family, all of it starts to circle the drain if I lose my health.
Dr. Peter Attia, Tony Robbins, Dr. Andrew Huberman, and Peter Diamandis all seem to be watching a slew of things that are completely off of my general care physician's radar. These guys are all focused on using healthcare systems to prevent them from getting sick, whereas I was just going to the doctor to make sure I wasn't already sick. But they also have the access and cash of less than 1% of the population.
The old way of thinking about medicine was lifespan. Or, in other words, how long can medical innovation keep you alive after you get heart disease, cancer, or metabolic disease. The new school, or the Dr. Attia protocol, is to focus on healthspan. This means not getting sick every, or at the least, putting it off until the very end of your life and not right in the middle of it.
But here's the problem. There's a big economic gap between those with no health coverage and those lucky enough to have benefits from an employer. But if you're striking out on your own, the coverage you have is likely for a worst-case scenario. And that was my scenario. Every visit, test, and preventative ask resulted in a pile of invoices from my insurance company.
“There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in. —BISHOP DESMOND TUTU
It's taken me a lot of research and trial and error, but today, I finally have a great framework for preventative wellness that won't break the bank. Here's my Healthspan Stack:
Outlive by Peter Attia
This is today's best almanac on the topic of longevity and best practices for increasing healthspan. This book changed the way I look at wellness, and might have even saved my life after running some of the suggested bloodwork. https://a.co/d/8dV6sXr
2. Jason Health
This is an online reseller of labwork that is then performed by Quest Diagnostics. After asking my regular doctor for a few tests for blood lipids, testosterone, and a metabolic panel, I got a $900 bill in the mail. The same tests from Jason were about $130. Even better, I got them the same week and the results the next day. I currently go in every 8 weeks for labwork. https://www.jasonhealth.com/
3. HealthTap
I tried a few virtual healthcare companies and have had the best luck with this one. It also helps that I got an amazing doctor who I love. She messages me back in the app same-day, and we meet via video every eight weeks after my labs. If I need any pharma interventions based on my labs, she sends the prescription over within minutes. https://www.healthtap.com/
4. Amazon Pharmacy
You know how the checkout experience, free shipping, and low prices of Prime are simply unbeatable in e-commerce? Well, just apply those same attributes to a pharmacy. Enough said. Goodbye CVS. Sorry, but I won't miss you. https://pharmacy.amazon.com/
5. CGM
Using a continuous glucose monitor has been one of the most insightful wellness experiences I've had in years. Only recently available for non-diabetics, this little device gives you real-time blood sugar levels on a mobile app. So why should you care? 1 in 3 American adults are prediabetic. That's 98 million people. Metabolic dysfunction is the only disorder that is almost always likely to also be present in those who have heart disease, cancer, or neurodegenerative disease. We all respond to sugar differently, and this will show you exactly where you are on that spectrum and what foods tend to throw you off. Pro-tip: there are some cool subscription apps to pair with the different devices, but you can just use the default one from the manufacturer. https://www.freestyle.abbott/us-en/home.html
6. Garmin Forerunner 965
This is getting a bit more into performance, but your sleep quality and VO2 max will also impact healthspan. As a long-time user of WHOOP, Apple Watch, and a bevy of other trackers, I can confidently say that this device gives me even more wellness insights with one thing that none of the others couldn't offer: 23 days of battery life. No subscriptions, tons of data, and pretty bulletproof. I love this watch. https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/886725
