Health insurance is a vital part of protecting your financial health. Health insurance will help you afford the medical care you need when you need it, without worrying about how it will affect your finances.
The ACA or Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) is a law that keeps insurance companies from holding pre-existing conditions against you. It also keeps them from charging older people who aren’t on Medicare yet too much monthly premium. It also provides tax credits and cost-sharing for families that need extra help.
The tax credits help people afford the monthly insurance cost, while the “cost-sharing” helps lower how much you owe when you go to get care.
Health insurance is a virtual necessity. It is essential to choose a plan that includes your choice of doctors and hospitals and ensure your prescriptions are covered.
Many people in the United States are unaware that health insurance can be affordable and doesn’t have to come with substantial out-of-pocket costs.
Dave Letterman has his top 10 lists. Here are my complete five lists…
1) Insurance, in general, is to protect against financial loss. If you have a significant health event, it can be a devastating financial loss. The out-of-pocket maximum of your policy is where your financial bleeding ends. This is important.
2) Peace Of Mind- It provides peace of mind in a medical emergency. There are no networks for emergency care, so if you are in a car wreck, having a heart attack or stroke, they will scoop you up and take you to the hospital, and it will be covered, in or out of network (your policy will define that coverage).
3) Health Insurance can help you save money on preventative care services. Many preventive services are now covered at 100%.
4) Negotiated Rates at the Hospital – If a hospital expects to collect $100 from a patient or insurance company, they might bill $650.Getting access to negotiated rates is incredibly important with hospitalization. I can’t tell you how often I have sat down with people, and they tell me something similar to the following story.
I had surgery, and when my husband went to pay, he told them we didn’t have insurance and offered to pay half immediately if they took it as payment in full. They went back there in the office and talked about it and came out and said yes. So we only paid 50% of the bill!
The problem there is that 50% of a $650 bill is $325 when the general negotiated rate might have only been $100. Negotiated rates at the hospital are essential!
5) It is the responsible thing to do – The policy you get will get you negotiated rates, not just at a hospital, but for most everything. CT Scans, MRIs, lab work, and more. What are the chances of needing a CT scan? I never had one in my life…until I did. That was five years ago, and now I’ve probably had 10. Sheesh!
Health insurance provides financial protection from large medical bills and the high cost of prescription drugs. It also helps you access preventive care like vaccines, cancer screenings, and more.
If you are trying to find the best health insurance plan, feel free to contact me. I Would love to serve you.