There are about 30 million people in the United States that don’t
have health insurance. Uninsured people are less likely to get the
health care services or postpone them which could result in poor
outcomes. Certain groups like people with low incomes, less
education, and racial/ethnic minorities are more likely to be
uninsured (Healthy people 2030, n.d).
Young healthy individuals may choose to not buy health
insurance as they think they are healthy and would not get sick and
they do not want to pay high premiums for health insurance when
they rarely see a doctor during the year, and some may even skip
annual physicals. But even a healthy individual can suddenly get sick
or be involved in a serious accident requiring hospitalization, and
now with the Covid-19 pandemic that is affecting young and old at
the same time, there are consequences if someone does not have
health insurance.
The pros of not having health insurance could be avoiding
high insurance premiums, saving money, etc. The cons of not having
health insurance include., negative health consequences; people may
avoid routine screenings and preventive immunizations and could
end up being diagnosed with diseases including cancers at later
stages and will have an increased mortality rate than insured people
who may seek medical help and do routine screenings. It will also
increase the cost of controlling chronic diseases. If a patient with a
chronic disease like Diabetes or Hypertension does not have
insurance or could not afford it, they could skip the periodic
diagnostic labs and may not take medications as prescribed, and it
could result in complications resulting in hospitalizations costing
more money and which could have been preventable. If parents do
not have health insurance, the health of the children will also be
affected, they will avoid childhood screening and immunizations for
their children (Garfield et al, 2019).
Overall choosing to not have health insurance could result in
negative health consequences to oneself and result in an economic
burden to the society and government as well.
References
Garfield, R., Orgera. K., Damico, A. (2019). The Uninsured and the
ACA: A Primer - Key Facts about Health Insurance and the Uninsured
amidst Changes to the Affordable Care Act. Retrieved
from https://www.kff.org/report-section/the-uninsured-and-the-
aca-a-primer-key-facts-about-health-insurance-and-the-uninsured-
amidst-changes-to-the-affordable-care-act
Healthy People 2030. (n.d). Retrieved
from https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-
objectives/health-insurance
