Health care has been one of the biggest issues in the United States in recent years. The reforms that will be rolled out in the coming decade will change the face of health care. In fact, by 2014, everybody in the United States will be required to have health insurance. Those who are currently uninsured may not fully understand the importance of having insurance.
Peace of Mind
The biggest benefit of any type of insurance is the peace of mind it provides. Having health insurance can assure you that any sort of emergency or health problem can be properly taken care of by licensed professionals. This is especially true if you have a spouse or children you are responsible for insuring. As CNN Money states, health insurance isn't cheap, but it's far preferable to the potential costs of not having coverage.
Financial Relief
Having health insurance can save you thousands of dollars. This is because costs of health care for uninsured people are astronomical. As of August 2009, the average emergency room visit cost around $1,000. The cost of delivering a baby via cesarean section was as high as $25,000 in September 2008. However, with insurance, that same C-section delivery could have cost about $525, and that emergency room visit might only be subject to your pre-determined ER co-pay, depending on your specific health insurance plan.
Preventive Care
Having insurance does more than treat the illnesses you currently have. Insurance can also cover tests for more serious afflictions that may pop up down the line. Most health insurance providers cover tests for heart disease, breast cancer, prostate cancer and many more. It's far less costly to treat these diseases before they affect you, so insurers are more than willing to cover preventive care.
Obtaining Health Insurance
Most people who have health insurance sign up through their employers. In most cases, employers offer health insurance under their plan to full-time employees, and sometimes part-time employees as well. Some smaller companies do not offer health insurance benefits to their employees. These people, along with the unemployed and self-employed, must sign up directly with an insurance company, which can cost much more than employee-sponsored insurance.
Cost of Health Insurance
While very few employers pay for the entire cost of insuring their employees, those who receive health insurance through their employers usually are only responsible for about 20 to 25 percent of the total cost of coverage, according to the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science. These contributions are made on a pre-tax basis, meaning that employee contributions are not considered taxable income. If you pay an insurance company directly for a non-group policy, you are solely responsible for the entire premium amount.
Government programs like Medicare and Medicaid provide affordable health care coverage for those who meet specific criteria. Medicare is open to people older than 65 or those who meet other specific government criteria. Medicaid is available to people with low household incomes that fall below the national poverty line. This eligibility requirement will increase to 133% of the poverty line in 2014.
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