Donald Faison talks "Scrubs," Saving Lives & Plays Operation!
He’s known for playing a doctor on TV, but now 'Scrubs' star Donald Faison is trying to save real lives!
They may not be real doctors, but they are darn good at playing them on TV. However, thanks to a new campaign with Cigna (NYSE:CI), actors Alan Alda, Patrick Dempsey, Lisa Edelstein, Noah Wyle and Donald Faison, are taking their non-official medical training out of the studio and onto Main Street. The end goal for this team of pseudo doctors: saving 100,000 lives.
“Some people don’t want to hear it necessarily from their doctor that they need to come in and if it takes Patrick Dempsey with his dreamy blue eyes to go to the doctor then so be it” jokes Donald Faison in an interview with FOXBusiness.com.
Faison is best known as Turk, on the NBC medical-comedy, ‘Scrubs’ (2001-2010).
“Know your core key numbers; cholesterol, Body Mass Index [BMI] also know your blood sugar, and also know your blood pressure. Start there and move forward from there too” says Faison.
The CDC reports that Americans use preventative services at only about half the recommended rate.
According to a recent Census Bureau survey, in 2015, over 90.9% of Americans are medically insured (this included employer and exchange participants). Despite the record number of people being covered, many struggle to understand exactly how and what they are covered for.
Only 55% of people know they should go for an annual checkup and only 45% of people know that annual check-ups, minus the nominal co-pay, cost practically nothing for people who carry insurance, Cigna reports.
According to a 2013 AIR Health Insurance Literacy Survey, only one out of five people could accurately calculate their out of pocket costs.
By going to the doctor and being aware of your health, you can save money too.
“As an actor who plays a doctor I’ve never had the opportunity to actually save someone’s life and through Cigna I am having that opportunity”
If you have a BMI of more than 30, you have the potential to increase your health care cost by an average of $2,500 or $500 out of pocket expenses annually. Don’t know your cholesterol? A reading of more than 240 breaks down to about an extra $350 a year of out of pocket costs, Cigna reports.
“As an actor who plays a doctor I’ve never had the opportunity to actually save someone’s life and through Cigna I am having that opportunity” adds Faison.
Be sure to check out Donald Faison’s full interview above and see if this famous TV surgeon can tackle the classic board game, Operation!