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).
a 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.
a 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
