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Why Do You Need Health Insurance

What Is The Affordable Care Act

What is Health Insurance, and Why Do You Need It?: Health Care Triage #2

The Affordable Care Act provides individuals and families greater access to affordable health insurance options including medical, dental, vision, and other types of health insurance that may not otherwise be available. Under the ACA:

  • You may be able to purchase health care coverage through a state or federal marketplace that offers a choice of plans.

  • Insurers can’t refuse coverage based on gender or a pre-existing condition.

  • There are no lifetime or annual limits on coverage.

  • Young adults can stay on their familys insurance plan until age 26.

  • Seniors who hit the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan coverage gap or “donut hole” can get a discount on medications.

Read the full text of the ACA and learn more about its provisions and relationship to patients, insurers, businesses, and families.

Ten Reasons Why You Need Health Insurance In Canada

Even though Canadas healthcare system is the most accessible in the world, it doesnt cover everything. Visiting the doctor and medical treatment is mainly free due to government funding. However, depending on which province you live in, there might be limitations on how much you are covered.

In most cases, if you are a relatively healthy person and only require general annual check-ups at your family doctor, then you probably dont need additional health insurance. But what if you have underlying health issues or have a family member who requires extra medical attention regularly? Then you should consider getting health insurance.

To help you make this critical decision about you and your familys healthcare, lets take a close look at ten reasons why you should get health insurance in Canada.

Health Coverage When You Need Care

Health insurance is a contract between you and your insurance company. When you buy a plan, the company agrees to pay part of your medical costs when you get sick or hurt.

There are other important benefits of health insurance. Plans available through the Connect For Health Colorado Marketplace provide free preventive care, like vaccines, screenings, and check-ups. They also cover some costs for prescription drugs. Also, having health insurance can help you get access to a medical provider who can get to know you and your individual medical needs.

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Common Health Insurance Terms

Deductibles, premiums, network, claims, benefits what do all these words actually mean? Health insurance practically seems to have a language of its own. To make it easier, you can check out our list of common terms and get quick definitions that help explain what they mean in everyday language.

There Is No Winning Scenario

Why do you need a comprehensive health insurance policy

Insurance carriers will typically take in more premiums than they pay out. That’s how they make money. That’s how they keep their business running.

Why pay more for medical expenses through an insurance provider when you could just save your money in a High Interest Savings Account and pay the upfront costs to your dentist or medical service provider?

This is a fundamental question not asked by Canadians.

Health and dental expenses are typically maintenance or planned events, like going to the dentist for a routine checkup. If you are taking care of your health, you aren’t likely to be hit with an unexpected $10,000 dental bill on your next appointment.

Insurance companies build their business on the model of economies of scale. This means plans are programmed to become more affordable as you increase the number of employees. This model of business is a huge cost burden for small business. Under these plans, small business owners find that the premiums will quickly surpass their intended benefits.

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You Need To Buy Prescription Medication

Canada is the only country with a universal healthcare system that does not include prescription drugs. You might be able to visit your family doctor for free, but if your doctor prescribes you antibiotics or any medication, you will have to pay out-of-pocket for the treatment. When you have health insurance, your prescription medication is covered, and you only have to pay a dispensing fee, which amounts to a few dollars.

Its Important For Those Who Have Preexisting Conditions

Do we need health insurance? We all do but if you live with a preexisting condition its especially important that you get some type of coverage.

Getting health insurance with a preexisting condition has been incredibly difficult for many families. The costs for these individuals have been high and insurance companies have often not covered many necessary medical procedures and treatments.

With new legislation being introduced and debated regularly, finding insurance with a preexisting condition is possible. If you struggle with various medical issues, its important to have health insurance. Regular and multiple doctor visits can begin to add up financially, so finding a plan that can help you with the burden is crucial.

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The Importance Of Health Insurance And Why You Must Get It

The current COVID-19 pandemic has made the entire world sit up and realise that medical exigencies are unpredictable and can cause a financial upheaval that is tough to handle. With a high infection rate and no successful vaccine yet, people have started to understand the importance of having a good health insurance plan. Besides, with the rising cost of medical expenses, access to good medical facility and hospitalisation costs can be financially strenuous. Therefore, getting a health insurance cover for yourself and your family can provide the added protection you need in times like these. Apart from the obvious benefit of having the financial confidence to take care of your loved ones, a health insurance plan is extremely useful when it comes to beating medical treatment inflation.

Here are six crucial reasons why you need to consider getting a health insurance plan today:

1. To fight lifestyle diseases

Lifestyle diseases are on the rise, especially among people under the age of 45. Illnesses like diabetes, obesity, respiratory problems, heart disease, all of which are prevalent among the older generation, are now rampant in younger people too. Some contributing factors that lead to these diseases include a sedentary lifestyle, stress, pollution, unhealthy eating habits, gadget addiction and undisciplined lives.

2. To safeguard your family

3. To counter inadequate insurance cover

4. To deal with medical inflation

5. To protect your savings

6. Insure early to stay secured

Understanding The Rules For Health Insurance Can Be Confusing

Why Do You Need Health Insurance? | WHI

The Affordable Care Act , signed into law in 2010, was designed to make health insurance coverage more affordable for Americans through the creation of tax subsidies while also opening up Medicaid eligibility to more low-income individuals and families. The ACA effectively made having health insurance mandatorynot having it meant you would incur a tax penalty. But what about now? What is the penalty for not having health insurance?

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Health Insurance And The Affordable Care Act

As of 2022, you no longer have to pay a penalty on your federal tax return if you’re not insured, as the fine was rescinded for the 2019 tax year and beyond, though some states may still have mandates.

Even though there’s no longer a penalty, you’re protecting both your health and your financial status by taking out a health insurance policy.

You can sign up for health insurance at the Health Insurance Marketplace or a health insurance exchange in your state, or you can look at other options such as your employer’s health care plan.

Health Insurance Facilitates Access To Care

Many people who lack health insurance will forgo the care they need until their condition becomes intolerable. Others will obtain the health care they need even without health insurance, by paying for it out of pocket or seeking it from providers who offer care free or at highly subsidized rates. For still others, health insurance alone does not ensure receipt of care because of other nonfinancial barriers, such as a lack of health care providers in their community, limited access to transportation, illiteracy, or linguistic and cultural differences. Nonetheless, health insurance remains a key factor in assuring access to health care.

Formal research about uninsured populations in the United States dates to the late 1920s and early 1930s when the Committee on the Cost of Medical Care produced a series of reports about financing physician office visits and hospitalizations. This issue became salient as the numbers of medically indigent climbed during the Great Depression. With the rise of commercial insurers and the decline of community rating offered by Blue Cross-Blue Shield and other nonprofit insurers in the 1950s, new studies of individual and family health expenditures were co-sponsored by the University of Chicago and the Health Information Foundation. These studies became the factual basis for legislation that was enacted as the and amendments to the Social Security Act in 1965.

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Short Term Plans Are Affordable

There are many reasons to get health insurance but costs are usually an obstacle for many people. This is where short term health insurance comes in to save the day.

Short term plans are a great option for people who need affordable coverage. Short term insurance doesnt cover every type of medical care you need, it also doesnt last for a long period of time. What these limitations offer is medical insurance at a significantly lower rate than most health insurance plans.

These plans can benefit many types of people like self-employed individuals and people who have a limited budget for healthcare.

Consider A Plan With A Health Savings Account

Why Do You Need Health Insurance? by Gurpreet Saluja

Another way to help lower your health care costs while getting the coverage you need is to consider purchasing a plan that has an HSA attached to it. HSAs are typically attached to health insurance plans that have high deductibles. If your employer doesnt offer an HSA, you can set up one with Lively.

The contributions you make to an HSA must be used to cover the cost of medical and health care. Covered costs include copays or coinsurance, deductibles, and the cost of prescription medications. When you put money into an HSA, you can deduct the amount you contribute to the account from your taxable income for the year, which helps reduce your tax bill.

Any money you put into an HSA stays there until you need to use it. If you start contributing to an HSA when youre in good health, you can save a significant amount. The annual contribution limit for an HSA is $3,600 for an individual plan or $7,200 for a family plan .

Contributing to an HSA now means youll have the funds to cover the cost of medical care in the future, helping you avoid medical debt and potential bankruptcy.

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How Health Insurance Coverage Works

When you have insurance, you pay some costs and your insurance plan pays some:

  • Premium: A premium is a fixed amount you pay to your insurance plan, usually every month. You pay this even if you do not use medical care that month.
  • Deductible: If you need medical care, a deductible is the amount you pay for care before the insurance company starts to pay its share. Once you meet your deductible, your insurance company begins to cover some costs of your care. Some plans have lower deductibles, like $250. Some have higher deductibles, like $2,000. Many plans provide preventive services, and sometimes other care, before youve met your deductible.
  • Co-pay: A co-pay is a fixed amount you will pay for a medical service. For example, a visit to the doctors office might cost $150 if you didnt have coverage. With health insurance, you may pay only $25 and the health plan would pay the rest.
  • Co-insurance: Co-insurance is similar to co-pay, except its a percentage of costs you pay. For instance, you may pay 20% of the cost of a $200 medical bill. So you would pay $40 and the health plan would pay the rest.

Affordable Care Acts Coverage Mandate

Under the ACA, also called Obamacare, Americans who were not otherwise eligible for an exemption were required to have health insurance coverage for themselves and their families. Failure to have minimum health insurance triggered a tax penalty. At the same time, the ACA allowed for the creation of a premium tax credit to help Americans offset some of the cost of getting health insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace.

This rule changed in January 2019, when the tax penalty mandate for health insurance was eliminated. While the ACA technically still exists, Americans who choose not to maintain health insurance for themselves or their family members in 2019 and beyond wont be penalized at tax time. Its estimated that as many as four million Americans will choose not to have health insurance coverage this year as a result of the penalty being eliminated.

As a result of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, all taxpayers with insurance bought on the ACA Marketplace are now eligible for the ACA premium tax credit. Previously, filers were ineligible if their income exceeded 400% of the federal poverty line.

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Why Do You Need A Health Insurance Plan

There are various reasons why getting health insurance should be your top priority.

The two primary ones are:

1. Changing lifestyles: Health disorders, unhealthy eating habits, and stressful work schedules have simply become normal in our lives. Not keeping our health in check has increased the necessity for getting health insurance.

2. Rising medical costs: Health insurance policies can help you combat the rising prices in healthcare. These policies can be beneficial in keeping your savings intact.

The benefits of getting health insurance are:

1. Cashless treatment: As mentioned above, if you get hospitalised in any hospital that comes under the network of your company, you will not need to pay anything. You will just need to provide your policy number and the insurance company.

2. Medical check-up: Health insurance policies also provide you with the service of getting a regular medical check-up.

3. No Claim Bonus : This is a bonus that will be provided to the policyholder if no claim has been filed for any treatment. The bonus you get can be availed as either a discount on the premium cost or as an increment in the sum assured.

4. Tax benefits: The premiums paid on a health insurance policy is eligible for deduction under Section 80D of the Indian Income Tax Act. The amount of deduction will vary depending on whether the policyholder is a senior citizen or not.

Can I Afford Health Insurance

Why do you need Health Insurance? – ICICI Prulife

To sign up for a private health insurance plan, you typically have to pay a monthly premium. Its far more likely that you can afford health insurance than that you can afford to pay for a surgery, illness or emergency room visit out of your own pocket.

Private health insurers usually offer a variety of plans with different premiums in order to reach a wide range of income levels.

If you cant afford a private health insurance plan, you might be eligible for a government health insurance plan, such as Medicaid or Medicare. Or you might be eligible for subsidies on the healthcare.gov Health Insurance Marketplace.

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How To Get Health Coverage

You can get health care coverage through:

  • A group coverage plan at your job or your spouse or partner’s job
  • Your parents’ insurance plan, if you are under age 26
  • A plan you purchase on your own directly from a health insurance company or through the Health Insurance Marketplace
  • Government programs such as
  • The Veterans Health Administration or TRICARE for military personnel
  • Your state, if it provides a health insurance plan
  • Continuing employer coverage from your former employer, on a temporary basis under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
  • Health Insurance Really Is Important And Here’s Why

    Find Cheap Health Insurance Quotes in Your Area

    Health insurance helps to reduce medical costs, making health care more affordable and thus more accessible.

    Having health insurance also facilitates access to care, resulting in lower death rates and better health care outcomes. On a basic level, health insurance can mean the difference between sickness and health or even life and death.

    The Institute of Medicine estimated in 2002 that a lack of health insurance led to 18,000 deaths per year, making it the sixth leading cause of death among people 25 to 64.

    • Helps pay for medical bills and prescription drugs.
    • Helps you avoid large medical debt.
    • Provides a cap on the most you could spend on health care each year.
    • Contributes to a longer, healthier life.
    • Connects you to a regular source of care.
    • Helps in the detection and management of illnesses and diseases.
    • Reduces financial concerns about medical costs.
    • Eases health concerns about not having access to care.
    • Eliminates stigmas associated with being uninsured.

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    You Need Broader Coverage

    Suppose you or a family member is dealing with a disability or ongoing underlying health issues. In that case, there are various health services and products that might not be covered with your provincial health coverage. This might force you to pay out-of-pocket for additional assistance.

    Eventually, if you know that you will require these other health services or products in the future, the cost might pile up. The solution is to get individual health insurance to reduce out-of-pocket costs and help protect you against unexpected medical expenses in the future.

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