SPENDING TIME IN NATURE IS INCREASINGLY CONSIDERED LEGITIMATE MEDICINE, AND DOCTORS AND INSURANCE CARRIERS ARE TREATING IT AS SUCH. BUT HOW EXACTLY CAN WE EXPECT THIS MOVEMENT TO PLAY OUT—AND AFFECT OUR WALLETS AND GEAR PURCHASES—IN THE FUTURE?   

HEY, WE CAN DREAM 

DO A MED SCHOOL ROTATION AT A NATIONAL PARK

Wallace J. Nichols, author of the book Blue Mind, wants the benefits of nature-based therapies to be common knowledge. To achieve that, “it needs to become part of the curriculum for students becoming teachers and for men and women becoming nurses, doctors, and therapists,” he says.

Walk with a Doc is trying to deliberately bridge this knowledge gap through its Walk with a Future Doc program, which aims to be in every medical school by 2020. Medical schools offer rotations in wilderness medicine and aspiring doctors, nurses, and physician assistants can complete a clinical elective in rural medicine in Yellowstone National Park, another opportunity to talk more about relationship between nature and health.

GET REIMBURSED FOR YOUR SEASON LIFT PASS 

Hear me out. Right now, some insurance plans cover a portion of your gym-membership fees, provided that the facility meets some basic requirements and you complete a specific number of visits within six months or a year. Maybe one day your health insurance company will reimburse you for a portion of the cost of your season lift pass. Ski and snowboarding wearables already exist and can provide documented proof of the day’s distance and vertical drop.

Read more here.