When the question is asked either to have or not have medical insurance one
has to ponder the many pros and cons. Just like the question in our discussion
stated that many feel they are healthy enough and do not need to carry some
form of health insurance. Many do not carry health insurance due to the fact
that they cannot afford it, or their employer does not offer any form of
insurance subsidies.The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has helped increased
the number of people with insurance and helped reduce prices to make it more
affordable for Americans. Those Americans who could not afford health
insurance were mandated to get health insurance under the ACA faced a
federal penalty in fines.
The federal mandate ended in 2019 but a few states kept the mandate
requirement and penalties in place. These states are California, Massachusetts,
New Jersey, The District of Columbia, and Rhode Island (Bailey, 2021). For
some this is considered a pro and a con, a con because you are mandated to
have insurance but a pro because you can save money for having some form
of insurance. Another con of not having insurance is that when you do get
sick, ill, or injured and need to visit a doctor it can cost from a few hundred
dollars up to thousands of dollars. In a 2019 study, found that 2/3 of people
who filed for bankruptcy did so due to medical bills effecting their financial
situations (Bailey, 2021).
Bailey, E. (2021, October 31).Is there a penalty for being uninsured?Single
Care: https://www.singlecare.com/blog/penalty-for-no-health-
insurance/
