Without universal health care for all Americans, the majority of the country’s population rely on health insurance for medical care. High deductible health insurance is the most popular and affordable option. However, this type of insurance can’t help in all cases.
Much has been said about the health care system of the United States. If you have been paying attention to the news, you are well aware that there is a lot of controversy and outrage regarding America having such a problematic health care system. While it’s currently not the best for a first world country and admittedly has very real problems that need to be solved, it is most certainly not the worst. We can’t just neglect the fact that there are still lots of good things about the health care system in America.
For one, the US is still the global leader when it comes to medical research funding, making them able to get the most advanced technologies of the field. Many of the world’s life-saving medications and newest drugs are developed in the US, with millions of people all over the world benefiting from these discoveries. People even come to America from all over the world to get world-class care and treatment. Aside from that, medical professionals in the US are some of the best in the world and wait times are much better compared to other countries.
However, the problem is America’s absence of universal health care. For this reason, Americans rely on health insurance. But is this enough? According to the US Census Bureau, almost 44 million people in America don’t have health insurance and another 38 million believe that they have inadequate health insurance.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 43.2% of Americans have high-deductible health plans (HDHP). This is the most popular type of insurance since this is the more affordable option in terms of monthly premiums. With HDHP, a certain amount of money, called the deductible, should be paid by you first before the health insurance payments begin. After you have paid your deductible amount for the year, you will then share the bill with the health insurance company.
The main downside to this type of insurance plan is that you are responsible for paying all the expenses out of your pocket until you reach your deductible. You have to pay 100% of your prescriptions, surgeries, and even emergency visits.
The hard truth is that a high deductible medical plan is not always helpful, especially in unforeseen situations. For this reason, HDHP holders tend to put off going to hospitals even in life-threatening cases because of financial worries. Because of this problem, more and more people are skipping medical care because they can’t afford to pay upfront or avail supplementary insurance from hospital gap insurance carrier that can help them with covering out-of-pocket expenses.
HDHP may only work best for people who are relatively healthy and rarely go to the doctor. But for most Americans, this is the only type of insurance they can afford. All you can hope for is you don’t encounter any accidents or emergency situations that will result in large hospital bills that you will pay from your own pocket.
It’s hard to face every day without the security of health care. No matter how top-notch the quality of medical care in the United States is, if the majority of the citizens don’t have access to it, there is still a lot to work on. But for now, there are options available to assist Americans in taking care of their health.
