Healthcare coverage can be a major expense and if you are young and healthy, you may think it is an unnecessary expense. A lot of healthy people think that it is less expensive to pay for the occasional doctor visit than it is to buy comprehensive healthcare insurance. What you may not realize is that the average cost of a single day in the hospital is $1988.00 which could spell financial ruin for anyone unfortunate.
Why Everyone Needs Health Insurance
Insurance is really protection for events that may occur. You carry car insurance because you might have an accident and the damages could be expensive. Of course, you may never have an accident or need to use your insurance. Healthcare insurance operates on the same principles. An injury or illness that requires hospitalization can be financially devastating. Maybe you will never have an illness or injury that requires a hospital stay, but if you do, healthcare insurance will help pay the costs of hospital treatment.
Healthcare Insurance Options
The cost of comprehensive healthcare insurance can be very high, and many health insurance plans are healthcare maintenance organizations (HMOs) or preferred provider organizations (PPOs) which can limit your choice of doctors and hospitals. For young, healthy adults there is an alternative healthcare plan called catastrophic health insurance or major medical insurance. Catastrophic healthcare plans have a high deductible and many policies do not provide comprehensive coverage, but the cost of catastrophic healthcare insurance is much lower than comprehensive plans.
Who Should Consider Catastrophic Healthcare Insurance?
The best candidates for catastrophic health insurance are single people with no dependents, couples in their twenties who have not yet started their families and older couples who no longer have children living in the home. Since this coverage does not usually pay for routine health screenings, preventive care or medical office visits, good health is a prerequisite for those considering this type of insurance. As with other types of health insurance, people with diabetes, asthma or other pre-existing health conditions may not qualify for coverage.
Health Savings Accounts and Supplemental Insurance
Some comprehensive catastrophic healthcare policies offer coverage comparable to other healthcare plans but with a much higher deductible. These plans may require that policyholders have a health savings account to cover the cost of the deductible and any co-payments should an insured person suffer a serious injury or illness requiring hospitalization. Catastrophic healthcare coverage can also be used to supplement existing healthcare insurance to cover the cost of co-payments or gaps that may exist in the primary plan.
While, like many people, you may believe that you don’t need health insurance coverage because you never get sick, an unexpected illness or injury could create medical bills that would take years to pay. Catastrophic health insurance can provide protection against the unexpected at an affordable cost. With free quotes you can compare the costs of different health insurance plans and decide if catastrophic health insurance is the right choice for your health insurance needs.