Student Spotlight
Rick Gallion, Doctor of Naturopathy candidate
Rick Gallion spent many of his first 20 years at BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina managing the financial implications of catastrophic, long-term healthcare: home health, hospice, ambulatory surgical centers, renal dialysis facilities and pharmacy. Naturally this type of work eventually became draining for a self-described health nut such as he.
During the early- to mid-1990s, Rick became a vocal advocate for complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as cost-effective options for BlueCross. CAM’s emphasis on natural health methods unquestionably helps individual members and employer members to prevent illness through exercise, diet and other conscious lifestyle choices.
Rick adds that David Eisenberg’s landmark study in The New England Journal of Medicine in 1993 and the 1997 follow-up study in The Journal of the American Medical Association offered great statistical significance of these ever-growing usage patterns among American healthcare consumers. Not only did patients report that they see natural health and holistic nutrition practitioners more often than they see physicians, they are even willing to pay for these visits out-of-pocket.
BlueCross’ innovative Natural Blue Holistic Health Choices division began in 1999 as Rick Gallion’s brainchild, and with Rick named as director of complementary healthcare. Describing the first phase of this initiative as a value-added discount program, Rick says that its most utilized services are chiropractic, acupuncture and medical massage. It also offers product discounts for nutraceuticals, fitness club memberships, yoga, meditation and guided imagery educational tapes, and more.
Phase Two markets a Healthy Alternatives optional benefit rider to employer groups. With Healthy Alternatives, individual policyholders can choose to add this rider, at an additional cost, or not.
The next phase, Rick says, is ongoing information gathering to document and influence the decision as to whether BlueCross should include CAM within core benefits for employer groups. The required change of thinking, he explains, is that employers are accustomed to paying for services that are deemed medically necessary but not accustomed to providing prevention-based coverage.
In terms of risk management, CAM could translate as A stitch in time saves nine.
Rick has been walking his talk for the last 25 years. Before his wife, Pam, became pregnant with their son, Derrick, the couple slowly phased meat out of their diet. They raised a son who has been vegetarian all his life, and an older daughter, Kenya, who was not raised vegetarian from birth but who is very health-conscious with her dietary and lifestyle choices. People rarely ever guess that Rick is old enough to have been married for almost 33 years and is now 52 years young. His son, he adds, recently completed the rigors of Marine boot camp without consuming one bit of animal protein.
For Rick Gallion, a naturopathic lifestyle means working with what God gives to everybody fresh air, pure water, rest, exercise, diet and sun light. And of course, faith, he adds. I know that herbs and vitamins, moderation in all things, and a positive mindset can help people heal. Better yet, they can help us stay healthier longer.
Rick is grateful to his employer for supporting his educational endeavors and for demonstrating its innovation by launching Natural Blue.
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