The Importance of Good Health Insurance
Health insurance has long been the unsung hero of financial planning.
As people live longer, we tend to spend much more on our medical expenses than we used to.
As little as 20 years ago an American male had a life expectancy of only 62 years.
That has since grown to 69 years.
These additional years are a direct result of vast improvements in medical knowledge and technology.
Neither of which comes cheaply.
In 1985 a $1 million life time cap on a health insurance policy was considered to be more than adequate, but by today's standards a policy with such a low cap is considered to be a "entry level" policy.
A cap of $5 million or more is standard by today's standards.
This seems to make sense as costs rise but it is hardly common knowledge.
Most baby boomers grew up in the age HMO's and the low cost /high coverage that they provided.
But as cost's rise the insurance companies and can no longer offer these plans at the rates that we have grown accustomed to.
The new breed of policies are high deductible PPO's and HSA compatible PPO plans at higher rates than most paid for an HMO only a few years back.
With much less coverage and higher price tags, many people wonder if they are better of going with coverage.
The answer to that is a resounding NO.
A single day in the hospital typically averages about $5000.
00 and that is just for the hospital services.
(i.
e.
room and board, nursing care,etc) If other services such as a surgical procedure or cardiac monitoring are require those expenses can go much higher.
According to the AMA, a typical breast cancer treatment (complete) can run nearly $150,000.
00.
While these are impressive numbers a well thought out insurance plan can limit these numbers significantly.
With the cost of insurance plans starting as low as a few dollars a day it simply does not make sense to go without health insurance.
Even if it's only a entry level plan.
As people live longer, we tend to spend much more on our medical expenses than we used to.
As little as 20 years ago an American male had a life expectancy of only 62 years.
That has since grown to 69 years.
These additional years are a direct result of vast improvements in medical knowledge and technology.
Neither of which comes cheaply.
In 1985 a $1 million life time cap on a health insurance policy was considered to be more than adequate, but by today's standards a policy with such a low cap is considered to be a "entry level" policy.
A cap of $5 million or more is standard by today's standards.
This seems to make sense as costs rise but it is hardly common knowledge.
Most baby boomers grew up in the age HMO's and the low cost /high coverage that they provided.
But as cost's rise the insurance companies and can no longer offer these plans at the rates that we have grown accustomed to.
The new breed of policies are high deductible PPO's and HSA compatible PPO plans at higher rates than most paid for an HMO only a few years back.
With much less coverage and higher price tags, many people wonder if they are better of going with coverage.
The answer to that is a resounding NO.
A single day in the hospital typically averages about $5000.
00 and that is just for the hospital services.
(i.
e.
room and board, nursing care,etc) If other services such as a surgical procedure or cardiac monitoring are require those expenses can go much higher.
According to the AMA, a typical breast cancer treatment (complete) can run nearly $150,000.
00.
While these are impressive numbers a well thought out insurance plan can limit these numbers significantly.
With the cost of insurance plans starting as low as a few dollars a day it simply does not make sense to go without health insurance.
Even if it's only a entry level plan.
Source...