There are plenty of ways to trim costs in your life to save money—cancelling a few premium cable channels, turning your thermostat a few degrees higher in the summer and colder in the winter to save on your electric bill—but forgoing health insurance isn’t the place to scrimp. Below, your trusted California health insurance agency highlights some of the top reasons to make sure you’re protected with health insurance.
- Not having insurance is a huge financial risk –– No one ever expects a major car accident or a cancer diagnosis, but these things can happen to anyone at any time. Consider that the average cost of a hospital stay in the US in 2010 was $9,700, according to the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. Keep in mind that this is an average. A person who sustains major injuries from a car accident could be hospitalized for weeks or months and could require surgery, along with a host of expensive tests and procedures. Medical costs as a result of a major accident could be in the range of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The financial risks are simply too great not to have health insurance.
- Preventive care is important for everyone –– Evidence suggests that uninsured people are more likely to have worse health outcomes1, whereas people with health insurance are much more likely to have regular check-ups and tests for problems like cholesterol and high blood pressure, and are more likely to address health problems before they worsen. Conversely, those who don’t have health insurance use emergency services more frequently and often wait until a health problem has become severe to seek medical attention.
These are just some of the reasons why having health insurance is so important. In our next post we’ll cover some additional reasons. To apply for health coverage, call Benefit Packages, or enroll on our website.
Sources: