No policy is not a good policy: the danger of being uninsured

The uninsured in the United States face a serious and all-too-real risk: financial ruin.  While it may be a strain on the budget to buy and maintain a health insurance policy, the possible effects of not having one are much greater. 

Personal debt is a big problem in the United States.  From credit card debt to morgages to car payments, sometimes its tough to keep your head above the ground, let alone dig yourself out.  One way to keep out of debt is to not live above your means.  While that may seem like an obvious strategy, it seems that fewer people in the United States are following that philosophy.  

But this article isn’t about buying a big screen TV when you’re over your credit limit, or getting a house that’s simply too expensive and big for your means.  We’re talking about the unexpected debt that can knock someone off their feet—such as a medical ailment or injury—requiring people to dig deep into their pockets.   

For the approximately 50 million people in the United States who do not have health insurance, a sudden accident or illness could ruin their financial situation in the blink of an eye, regardless of how well they’ve been balancing their books.   

As great an option as medical tourism is for the estimated half a million Americans who have traveled overseas for procedures, when it comes to injuries or illnesses suffered that required immediate and sometimes invasive care, hopping on a plane and heading to India or the Philipinnes is simply not a viable option in most cases.     

That’s why its so dangerous to go without health insurance.  Yes, prices for policies can be high, often hundreds of dollars a month even for a healthy individual.  Even for those who choose lower-priced polices, the high deductibles that are often part of the plan can really put a burden on someone’s financial situation.

"Burden," however, is a relative term. 

For instance, image if you had a policy with a $5,000 deductible and were in a car accident that resulted in a serious injury requiring not only emergency care, but also subsequent operations, a prolonged hospital stay, and post-operative rehabilitation.  Not a pleasant thought.   

Now, however, imagine that you had no health insurance at all.   

In the first scenario, you would be responsible for the $5000 deductible, but likely nothing else.  $5000 is a lot of money, for sure, and may take a while to pay off, bbut it’s nothing that will send you spiraling into utter financial ruin.  After all, many hospitals and insurance companies allow their billees to pay in increments, spreading out the payment over time.   

However, if you had no insurance at all, though, you could be faced with a bill ten times that much or more.  Now that’s really not a pleasant thought.        

It is true that medical tourism is a great option for many people all over the globe.  Kidney and liver transplants, heart surgery, hip replacement—you name it; a person can undergo all types of procedures overseas at excellent facilities.  Of course, those procedures just mentioned clearly aren’t elective cosmetic procedures; U.S. citizens in growing numbers are traveling abroad for life-saving operations.   

Yet, you’re undoubtedly playing with fire if you don’t have at least some basic healthcare policy. What happens, after all, if you’re injured or sick and unable to make the journey to another country!   

Besides, regardless of the fact that the U.S. healthcare system is expensive, often confusing, and rife with problems, America, in general, does offer a quality of medical care that is of the utmost and highest quality, so it’s not like you’ll exactly be in bad hands.     

Basically, it comes to this:  Having the option to travel abroad for medical treatement is great; but to use it as an excuse to forgo any sort of medical insurance plan at home could end up costing you more than you know.  Some good news is that it seems as if more and more employers and health insurers are catching on to the trend of medical tourism and offering policies that cover all or a portion of an overseas medical trip, as well as protect a person who stays within the United States for medical treatment.