Let’s begin by knowing what health insurance is. Health insurance is a service that you can avail that would ensure your financial security if the time comes that some medical emergency happens to you, like accidents or illnesses. Just like how any other insurance products work, health insurance cover the monetary cost of medical expenses like surgeries, etc. Health insurance can be availed by either corrective or preventive means. More often than not, people who have health insurance don’t pay a single dime after a medical procedure has been done, this level of peace of mind though comes at a price, it comes in the form of paying a premium. While there are national health insurance programs that are mandated by the government, it leaves a lot in the room to be desired.
Medical expenditures can financially ruin everyone, especially if it’s a big one. The last thing you would want to deal with while going through the emotional, mental, and physical stress of a medical condition is your financial situation, that’s why some form of health insurance is very much in order. If you have done your research about which health insurance to get and when is the right time to get one, you might be in a treat by getting more value from your health insurance than what you paid for. Here’s an article that would help you realize why having health insurance would benefit you.
Main Benefits of Health Insurance
The most important reason why you should get health insurance is to avoid the huge financial cost of medical expenses. Because whether we like it or not, no matter how much we take care of our bodies, it would still weaken and become more vulnerable to diseases as we age, and even if you are affluent enough and you have saved so much wealth that you are able to afford your medical expenses out of pocket, it isn’t the most practical plan ever.
While the benefits of health insurance can sometimes feel intangible because you are not handed a check or a cash every time you need to pay a medical expense, it all takes care of it even without you in the driver’s seat. And it will come very much handy when times like the following comes:
Hospitalization
There are times that your medical condition would require you to stay in the hospital for a significant amount of time in order to fulfill certain procedures and when immediate care is required. Also, there are facilities and equipment that are only available in the hospital and not in clinics. Being hospitalized would mean hefty medical expenditures, not when you have health insurance though because while you’re in the hospital, your insurance takes care of the following expenses:
- The hospitalization itself (like payments for the room and accommodation).
- Mental health care and procedures.
- Rehabilitation costs.
- Ambulance fees.
- Medicine
- Laboratory tests
- Pediatrics
Outpatient Procedures
Being hospitalized and being an outpatient only differs in one important respect, unlike being hospitalized, an outpatient goes to a hospital and receives medical attention, but the patient is not required to stay in the hospital since the medical condition can be treated at home or the procedure done at the doctor’s clinic. Usually, what happens is that the doctor would prescribe the patient medication and be advised so the condition won’t happen again. Most of the time being hospitalized is much more expensive than being an outpatient, but it would cost money either way, so if you have health insurance, you can surely expect it to cover most costs including:
- Wellness check-ups
- Preventive care
- Laboratory tests
- Annual Physical Examinations
Emergency Situations
As the title suggests, here is where the health insurance would pay for the expenses of the immediate care given to the insured patient, this includes situations wherein a patient is brought to the hospital by an ambulance or rushed to the emergency room of a hospital in order to receive immediate medical attention. These types of situations are the most serious cases that medically insured people are going to encounter, it would more likely be caused by an accident or any similar cases that would make them need immediate medical care. Health insurance would cover emergency medical situations including the following:
- Intensive care
- Travel coverage
Optional Benefits
These are medical benefits that are not usually included with the standard health insurance packages. Having them added to your health insurance would mean that you have to pay extra for each one of them. These optional benefits are commonly more popular benefits that are separate from the base health insurance that the policy covers. Companies that provide their employees with health insurance often find it impractical to include these optional packages and decide not to include them, in case there is a high demand for it. A common example is maternity benefits, the company would seek for a minimum number of recruits in order for them to start offering it. Some of these optional benefits are, but not limited to:
- Optical
- Dental
- Maternity
The price of health insurance really varies significantly from one provider to the other, some providers won’t even throw in outpatient coverage. The trick here really is to find a provider that would very flexibly build a health care insurance policy for you, and if you are satisfied with the coverage and the price, then that’s probably the best one for you.
It goes without saying that health insurance is expensive, but it is pricey for a reason because having it not only gives you peace of mind, but it would also prevent you from getting derailed from your financial goals. The basic principle is that you pay a specified amount every month, so when the time comes that you needed your insurance to cover your consultations, hospitalizations, or laboratory tests, and any other medical expenses, it would do so all at once, without you shelling out even a single penny out of your pocket.