Decided To Go Without Health Insurance? 4 Reasons To Rethink That Decision
Now that the laws have changed and you can no longer be fined for not having health insurance, you may have decided to let your coverage lapse. While that might seem like a good way to save money, that's actually not the case. If you still think you're better off without health insurance, take a look at the list provided below. Here are four great incentives for maintaining your health insurance coverage.
Keep Up on the Preventative Care
If you've been thinking about cancelling your health insurance or you still don't have coverage, you need to think about your health, especially where preventative care is concerned. One of the major benefits of having health insurance is that it allows you to keep up on your preventative care. When you're without health insurance, you may forego things like your annual physical, or preventative screenings such as mammograms or colonoscopies. Unfortunately, avoiding those screenings can have a devastating effect on your health. To keep up on your preventative care, you need to maintain your health insurance coverage.
Be Prepared for Catastrophic Needs
You may be in good health now, but that doesn't mean things will stay that way. As you age, you can develop life-threatening medical conditions. Unfortunately, if you don't have health insurance, you may not receive the initial care you need to identify the problem quickly, which means treatment may be delayed. Not only that, but without health insurance, you'll be forced to pay cash for any treatment you receive. Luckily, when you have health insurance, you'll be financially prepared for the occurrence of any catastrophic medical needs.
Avoid Emergency Room Visits
If you don't have health insurance, you may use the emergency room as your primary care physician. This may seem like a good way to get the care you need, but it could cause additional problems for you. First, each visit to the emergency room exposes you to additional germs and illnesses; some of them may be much worse than the condition you're currently suffering from. Second, you may wait hours for medical care. Third, when you use the emergency room for non-emergency visits, you make it more difficult for real emergencies to receive treatment in a timely manner. Finally, emergency room visits are much more expensive than routine medical exams with a primary care physician. When you have health insurance, you can avoid those unnecessary emergency room visits.
Enjoy Tax Incentives
Finally, whether you've decided to let your health insurance lapse, or you currently don't have insurance, you need to think about your taxes. You might not be at risk for fines or penalties, but your lack of health insurance is still affecting your taxes. That's because without health insurance, you can't enjoy the tax incentives that are available for people with current coverage.