The Real Reason Why Americans Are Taking Risks Of Not Having Health Insurance

Life can totally be unpredictable, especially when it comes to health matters. This is why people have health insurance so that they will be covered in case they need medical attention. Unfortunately, there are still millions of Americans who are living their life without any medical insurance as if they’re taking the risk.

Some people think it is way too expensive to buy, which can be true in a way and it doesn’t even cover enough. With the new administration, the health insurance are somewhat still on the loop since no one managed to solve the insurance conundrum, this is despite how millions of Americans vote just so they could hope for a better healthcare system.

No Health Insurance

In a recent report, it was revealed that because the insurance is becoming more of a financial burden than an aid to people, they’d rather take the risk of not having one and simply save money for emergency funds. A lot of people think that they would be able to save more money not having one than to pay for insurance so much that they would go broke. Some of the biggest examples of those who have been struggling when it comes to insurance are low to middle-class families who actually need it the most. A family in Virginia is facing bankruptcy because of the unexpected medical expenses that they could no longer afford, even if they had medical insurance.

That is not exactly such a peculiar story because thousands of families in the United States are suffering the same, some even had to let go of other insurances because of the rates going higher. If you don’t have any health insurance there will indeed be some risks being taken, over 61 percent of adults from low-income working families who don’t have any health insurance said that they can’t afford it even if they’re the ones who need it the most.

The purpose of the Affordable Care Act is to literally give Americans their sole right for affordable healthcare as well as provide financial assistance to people who are living under the poverty level. What most people don’t know is that this law actually comes with a penalty, and that means if you don’t have health insurance then you must pay for it.

Experts say that health insurance, no matter how expensive, can still save you from going bankrupt, even if it may seem ironic that people actually go bankrupt to be able to pay for insurance alone. In a recent report by Health Affairs, almost 2 million Americans have filed for bankruptcy because of unexpected medical expenses.

Other Ways To Pay

Even if you don’t have health insurance, there is still a way for you to be able to afford medical expenses since they don’t have to be that expensive. One way to do it is to literally go window shopping for doctors and hospitals. It is a fact that doctors have different fees and every hospital has their own different fees as well. If you try and make a list of hospitals that are convenient for you and call to figure out how much their average fee is for an appointment, then you better do it now. Don’t wait for yourself to get ill. There are even urgent care facility charges that are less than $70, which is one of the cheapest around.

There are also some doctor’s offices who charge people less if they don’t have any health insurance, but sometimes you have to ask for it yourself. They may give a reduced rate, especially if you try to pay in advance such as doing a down-payment kind of game. For instance, you will be having a baby in a month or two, some doctors allow down-payments even before the baby arrives since that way it wouldn’t be too much for you to pay. This may not be helpful in emergency cases though, hence there is such thing as emergency funds that you must have.

This is one of the main reasons why people set up a separate medical savings account since it would be a cheaper way to spend their money instead of having to pay way too much on insurance. It may be convenient for some, but those who can afford health insurance must get themselves one since it is very important.