Health Insurance
Health Insurance

8 Reasons Why Health Insurance Is Important

With the rising cost of health care, access to good medical facilities and hospitalization costs can be financially formidable. Health insurance helps lower medical costs, making health care more affordable and thus more accessible.
Author Bowtie Team
Date 2022-06-27
Updated on 2022-08-03
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How health insurance works?The importance of health InsuranceInsure early to stay secured

Therefore, meaningful healthcare coverage is critical to living a productive, secure, and healthy life. And let’s face it, nobody wants to be dealing with medical bills while ill, injured, in a hospital bed, or in the ER. So it’s wise to prepare for a rainy day by getting health insurance before falling sick.

How health insurance works?

Health insurance is an agreement that requires an insurer to pay some or all of a person’s healthcare expenses in exchange for a premium. Typically, health insurance pays for the medical, surgical, prescription drug, and sometimes dental expenses incurred by the insured. In addition, health insurance can reimburse the insured for expenses incurred from illness or injury or pay the care provider directly.

Some health plans have a deductible, which is the amount you must pay out of your pocket until your health plan kicks in to share a percentage of the costs. Once you meet your deductible and your plan kicks in, you start sharing costs with your plan. How much you pay out-of-pocket and what your plan helps pay for can depend on various factors, including whether you’ve met your deductible, what your coinsurance is, which providers and facilities you’re getting care from, and if your care is preventive or not, and more.

Generally speaking, health plans with higher premiums pay more of your total health care costs. Conversely, plans with lower premiums tend to pay less of your total costs.

The importance of health Insurance

A health insurance policy is an essential requirement in these uncertain times. You should not hesitate to protect yourself and your loved ones from any eventuality that could leave you financially handicapped. Here are eight crucial reasons why you need to consider getting a health insurance plan as soon as possible:

 

1. To combat lifestyle illnesses

Health insurance is a must to combat the rise in lifestyle diseases. A sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy diet, lack of physical activities, etc., have led to an alarming increase in lifestyle-related diseases, especially among the young. The high probability of being affected by lifestyle illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, heart ailments, respiratory problems, etc., and the constant rise in healthcare expenses makes it more compelling to cover your family and yourself with a proper health insurance policy.

While taking preventive measures can help prevent and manage these diseases, an unfortunate incident can be challenging to cope with mentally and financially. Investing in a health plan that covers regular health tests can help catch these illnesses early and make it easier to take care of medical expenses.

 

2. To protect your family 

Protecting your family from life’s challenges is one of the most important promises. This is especially important if you have aging parents who may be vulnerable to illnesses or have dependent children. When shopping around for an ideal health insurance plan, you can choose to secure your entire family under the same policy rather than buying separate ones. Making sure that your family gets the best medical treatment, should anything happen to them, is something you would not have to stress about if you have a suitable health cover. It is advisable to research thoroughly, talk to experts for an unbiased opinion and make sure you get a plan that provides comprehensive coverage.

 

3. To counter inadequate insurance cover

If you already have health insurance or a policy provided by your employer, you should check exactly what is covered and the things it protects you against. Chances are, it will provide you with basic and extra coverage that may be necessary to better protect you from possible health and financial risks. But, on the other hand, if your current policy does not cover potential threats such as diseases or illnesses that run in the family, it could prove insufficient in times of need. 

 

4. To deal with medical inflation

Given the massive advances in medical technology, healthcare costs have been on the rise. It is important to know that medical expenses are not limited to the hospital room and board charges only. The expenses for doctor’s consultation, diagnosis tests, ambulance charges, operation room costs, medicines, etc., are also steadily rising. Without adequate coverage, all of these could put a considerable strain on your finances. By paying a relatively affordable health insurance premium each year, you can better manage rising healthcare costs while opting for quality treatment without stressing how much it will cost.

 

5. To protect you from unexpected, high medical costs

Besides causing distress and anxiety, an unforeseen illness can burden you with an unexpected financial burden. You can better manage your medical bills by purchasing a suitable health insurance policy without dipping into your savings. In fact, some insurance providers offer cashless treatment to save you from worrying about reimbursements post payment. Instead, your savings can be used for their intended purposes, such as buying a home, funding your child’s education, and retirement. 

 

6. To improve access to care

Individuals with coverage are more likely to obtain an early diagnosis and treatment, ultimately contributing to improved health outcomes. In addition, most health insurance plans offer preventive services, providing vaccinations and screenings at no cost, thus preventing illnesses and ensuing complications. Studies on health-related outcomes for cancer patients provide some of the most compelling evidence for the effect of health insurance status on health outcomes. This is because early diagnosis frequently improves the chances of surviving cancer. Generally, in studies examining the stage at which cancer is diagnosed, those with health insurance have the best outcomes, whereas those with no insurance have the worst (i.e., the highest proportion of late-stage diagnoses).

 

7. To improve health outcomes

A mounting body of evidence indicates that health insurance coverage is associated with better health outcomes and decreases in mortality. Studies have also found that individuals with coverage report a greater sense of well-being. Also,  individuals who are insured experience lower rates of depression than those who are not. 

 

8. To support appropriate health care utilization

Ultimately, people can live healthier, more fulfilling lives because of access to ongoing and appropriate care. Health insurance links people to a regular source of care, giving them access to an infrastructure and a network of providers who can work with patients in delivering comprehensive, continuous, and coordinated health care services.

Insure early to stay secured

Opting for health insurance early in life has countless benefits. Young buyers can purchase plans at lower rates. Additionally, you will be offered more extensive coverage. Buying health insurance at a young age ensures no scope for pre-existing diseases as you will be covered early, and any diseases diagnosed later in life will be covered automatically. Besides, you must serve several waiting periods when buying a health plan. If you purchase it when you’re still young and healthy, by the time you actually need it, you would have served the requisite waiting periods and be able to claim all full benefits.

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The above information was provided by Bowtie Team. It is for reference only. In no event shall Bowtie be liable to you or to any other party for any loss or damage whatsoever or howsoever caused directly or indirectly in connection with your access to or use of the content thereon.

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