If You Think That You Cannot Afford Health Insurance Then You Are In For A Surprise.
By : Donald Saunders
  
Incredibly, twenty percent of adult Americans consider that they are unable to afford satisfactory health care according to the latest report released by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia. So, are you amongst the 40 million adults who are not able to sleep soundly because of the fear of being unable to afford the cost of treatment in the event of illness or accident? Perhaps more importantly, do you have to be amongst the 40 million?

The CDC report which was made public in 2007 and examined health in the United States looked in depth at a number of aspects of health care and found that:

1. 10% of people are currently unable to afford the cost of prescription medicines.

2. 10% of people delay having medical treatment because of the cost.

3. As many as nearly 1 in 3 young people between 18 and 24 have no normal source of medical treatment or health insurance.

4. 10% of people between 45 and 64 have no normal source of medical treatment and about 50% of these people find themselves with high blood pressure, a serious heart problem or diabetes.

5. 20% of people below 65 years of age are not insured for at least part of each year, with the majority of these having no insurance throughout the 12 month period.

Many people are lucky enough to get health insurance cover through schemes run by their employer, although escalating costs are forcing an increasing number of employers to reduce their group health insurance plans or to close them altogether. There are however also many millions of people who cannot get cover through their employment and who need to make arrangements for themselves. It is for this second group that health insurance is frequently thought to be simply too expensive.

But are you right to dismiss the idea of getting health insurance merely because you feel that it is too expensive? Health insurance plans come in many different shapes and sizes and, although a traditional fee-for-service plan can be expensive, there are a number of less expensive alternatives.

In simple terms health insurance falls into roughly two categories comprising disability plans and medical expense plans. The former covers your loss of income when you are no longer able to work because of disability and the latter provides cover for the cost of medical treatment as the result of accident or injury.

Each of these types of health insurance can be bought as an individual policy or separately and separate plans can again be broken down to provide cover for particular areas like accident coverage, major medical expenses, basic medical expenses, hospital care and more.

Further, cover today can be offered by not simply traditional insurers, but also by many group organizations, companies like Blue Cross Blue Shield, health maintenance organizations and preferred provider organizations, each of which offers a wide range of plans with payment options which suit more or less every wallet.

If you are frightened off by the thought that you simply cannot afford to buy health insurance then think again. You might not be in a position to buy a comprehensive policy covering all eventualities but it is a sure bet that you will be able to find a policy which will give you sufficient coverage to provide you with peace of mind.