The Importance of Health Insurance to Your Finances

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The Importance of Health Insurance to Your Finances

Having a health insurance policy is an important way to keep medical bills from eating up a large part of your budget. Not only can medical bills bust the most carefully prepared budget, but they are also a leading cause of bankruptcy, according to NerdWallet Health.

Costs of going without insurance

The lack of health insurance is one of the major reasons why many Americans rack up high healthcare bills.

Just one visit to an emergency room for a person with no insurance is likely to cost 40 percent more than a month’s rent, according to the National Institutes of Health. If you don’t have health insurance, there is a higher chance that you will have to pay more for healthcare. This can contribute to financial stress. Such stress can lead to a bad credit report, a lower credit score, and even divorce.

Unexpected benefits of health insurance

Health insurance has many benefits besides covering the costs of medical bills. The Affordable Care Act requires that most health insurance plans offer preventive care for free. This free care includes immunizations and well child checkups for children and mammograms for women over 40. Because insurance companies negotiate steep discounts for healthcare from doctors and hospitals, paying for healthcare without a health insurance policy can be very expensive.

Ultimate costs to you and society

Going without health insurance is expensive for you and your loved ones and society as a whole. A lack of health insurance may lead you to avoid getting needed healthcare for yourself and your family. That may cost you more later, as an untreated health condition may cause a future visit to the emergency room. Unpaid medical bills and the lack of insurance increases costs for those who do have insurance and has caused some hospitals to go out of business.