Pros of Health Insurance
When people decide if they want to pay for health insurance it is important to
understand the pros and cons when making this decision for themselves and/or
family members. The pros of having Health insurance is this protects you from
unexpected, high medical cost. For example, a broken leg can cost up to $7,500
to fix and the average cost of a 3-day hospital stay is around $30,000. By having
health insurance, you are only responsible for a small portion of the bill once
your deductible has been covered. Additional pros include reduced cost after
the deductible is met, out-of-pocket maximum, and no yearly or lifetime
limits. Having health insurance also means getting access to free preventative
care such as vaccines, screenings, annual check-ups, and deductibles
(healthcare.gov). By frequently going to the doctors this could help identify
early warning signs of cancer, diabetes, high cholesterol, etc. Health insurance
can be accessed by both employers and private health insurance which typically
have a higher monthly fee. Most Americans still decide to opt into health
insurance (if available) to have a “peace of mind” in case an accident occurs.
Cons of Health Insurance
A lot of times healthy individuals who are healthy decide to opt out of health
insurance to save money. However, if they do get sick this can put them
financially at risk for paying full price to cover medical bills. It is important to
understand the cons of having health insurance. 1) unaffordable high premiums
due to pre-existing health conditions because of the high change of using
insurance for cost related to treatment or hospitalization. 2) confusing policies
and trying to understand the differences and nuances between different health
care insurance plans. 3) if your plan doesn’t cover a certain medical attention or
if the hospital bill exceed the allowable coverage, you still could pay a lot (in
addition to medical insurance (metrobank).
Overall, in my opinion the pros outweigh the cost and even health individuals
should opt into health insurance if they have the financial ability. The financial
implications of getting sick and not having health insurance can cripple an
individual or family for a long time.
References
Health coverage protects you from high medical costs. HealthCare.gov. (n.d.). Retrieved
February 1, 2022, from
https://www.healthcare.gov/why-coverage-is-important/protection-from-high-
medical-costs/%
The advantages and disadvantages of health insurance. Metrobank. (n.d.). Retrieved
February 2, 2022, from https://www.metrobank.com.ph/articles/learn/pros-and-cons-
of-healthcare-plan%
