The Importance Of Taking An Insurance Against Your Health (Essay Sample)

Need for insurance healthName:Institutional Affiliation:Date:
Need For Health Insurance
We always make struggles to make sure that we lead a comfortable life. However, as we struggle to achieve all these, there is one life aspect that we always seem to forget that affects the life of every individual-our health. Which is the last time that you really thought about your health? There is a rapid urbanization taking place in the 21st century. Though it is good for us, it has also lead to environmental deterioration and thus the risky of human beings becoming infected with diseases is increasing. As a result we end up spending a lot of money in treatment. People are forced to even borrow money from their friends and relatives or sell their assets to meet these hospital bills. However, you can do away with all this by taking an insurance cover.
There are two common types of health insurance plans. The first one is the Health Maintenance Organization plans (HMO). It usually offers a coverage for preventive care which includes special visits to your doctor. It became popular in the year 2014 (Wilper, et.al. 2009). However, for non-preventive medical visits you are required to pay copayment fees. We also have Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plans that enables you to have flexibility on the type of specialist that you may wish to visit. Therefore if you really do not want to be carried out in debts, you need to take an insurance cover for yourself, your family or even your employees. Though there is no unique health insurance cover that we can conclude that is good for everyone, they differ in terms of their costs, age and even the medical condition that they can cover.
In the research paper, I am going to look at the need of taking an insurance cover and limitations that are involved in taking of health covers.
Importance of taking Health Insurance Cover
Taking an insurance cover can save on the cost that an individual spends on treatment. In a study that was published in the American Journal of Medicine in August 2009, it was discovered that most cases of bankruptcy that occurred in the year 2007 were as a result of the inability of people to pay their medical costs. Most of the people who were declared bankrupt had debts that were over $5,000. According to calculations, this was a significant portion of their incomes. Lack of ability by an individual to pay the high medical bills can affect the savings of an individual and cause bankruptcy thus a drawback in personal life development (Loewestein et.al. 2013).
Health insurance covers enable one to have an easy access to preventive care and primary care. According to the law, insurers cover annual medical check-ups and preventive care. This therefore means that you can stay health at all times and also detect this medical ailments earlier enough. This will save a lot on the costs of treatment since they are easier and also less expensive to treat. Health insurances cover even the young people in the community. Contrary to the popular belief, young people have programs that are modified to suit their lives. They can have access to check-ups and chronic disease management. According to Sarah Dash, a research professor at Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance informs that young women who might also be thinking of starting their families need to take care of their selves by taking health insurance covers (Nelson, Thompson, Davenport & Penaloza, 2000).
Insurance cover helps to avoid financial strain on your relatives and friends. People who do not usually have insurance covers always wait for the last minute and begin using the emergency door in order to get access to the various health services that are provided (Wilper et. al., 2009). This in turn can result to large amounts of bills from the doctors and the health facilities. In order to get back the funds then the health facilities are forced to charge more on the services in order to avoid causing closure down of the facility.
Health insurance is more flexible to a person in terms of choosing the doctor who needs to treat them and the type of treatment that you may need as long as all your requirements are within the policies that you agreed with the insurer. Some insurers might agree to cover an individual from minor ailments and also provide a decent amount of coverage for the patient. This amount however can be insufficient if it is a major emergency. Therefore it is important for the individuals to prepare themselves for such types of major contingencies and make a good provision of amount through adequate health insurance cover.
Health insurance can make one to have a lot of ease in following up their medical care services. Traditionally, the hospital emergency departments always took care of those people who had urgent needs such as a broken hand, injuries on the head due to an accident regardless of your inability to pay for the services. Ellen Pryga, a director of policy for the American Hospital Association says “the ability to get access to follow-up care, rehab care or any other health services that you may need in order to get back to your normal state of health requires a coverage or a certain amount of money” (Sydnor, 2010). Therefore if you have a good insurance cover then you will not be having any problems in gaining access to these services.
Health insurance cover enables one to have an easy access to government educational institutions and employment in various organizations. More people are getting into different educational institutions while others are moving out of these educational institutions in order to seek for employment. Health insurance is becoming a prerequisite for one to attend an educational institution or even these days some organizations require that the employees have health insurance covers (Fisher, Wennberg, Stukel, Gottlieb, Lucas & Pindrr, 2003). Therefore this makes it easier for one to have access to these opportunities and other government services.
Health insurance helps to protect the future life of individuals. Even though a single prescription or an occasional trip to see the doctor may actually fit into your budget, the cost of managing a certain type of illness or treating an injury can be financially devastating. Even the costs of routine care can add up over time. Thus having a good health insurance policy can save you the high costs arising from serious injuries, hospital stays or chronic illness.
Health insurance helps in saving the cost of tax paid by an individual to the government. A person with a health insurance cover pays the tax annually according to the local government policy. This is a good idea as it helps to protect an individual by taking a group health insurance while on the other hand the amount of deductions made on the salary get back to the same taxpayer (Loewestein et. al., 2013). Therefore, both the employee and the employer can save their tax through taking an insurance. In case of group health insurance it can help to motivate the employee and also his/her family. If one gets ill suddenly and does not have any other source of income, the insurance policy can support the employee and their family members. According to the policies of the group insurance, either the spouse or dependants can benefit from such an insurance.
Limitations
In contrast, health insurance has got its limitations as well. The actual medical coverage might not be very enough in order to sufficiently cover the costs of carrying out the tests, a surgery and the other procedures that need to be carried out on the individual (Cunningham, Denk & Sinclair, 2001). This will in turn put a lot of financial strain on the individual in terms of paying for the medical bills and make some to give up on getting the medical care that they really need. This can cause the worsening of the disease condition otherwise known as exacerbation or even death of an individual. This will cost the person, family, taxpayers and the government as well.
High cost of premiums charged on the individual health plans can make it unaffordable for some people. The mediclaim insurance goes up just as the age of the insured grows (Wilper et.al. 2009). The policy can also be very confusing with a lot of wordy disclaimers, options and waiver information. Some health insurance claims which appear to be less expensive have a lot of limitations such as office visits, high deductible amounts and also a predetermined doctor network. This may pose a big problem to the low income group and as such some families might not be able to purchase the policy.
Some insurances do not cover the pre-existing medical problems. Therefore if an individual enrolls in a new group insurance plan, they can be asked if they have any pre-existing conditions. According to Health insuranceinfo.net run by the Georg...