if you don't have health insurance, you pay all medical costs out of pocket whenever you need any health care at all. Even if you do have insurance, you pay part of everything, and there's always a limit what insurance will cover, or exclusions, so if you really run up some high health bills you might end up bankrupt even if you have insurance.
And, if you don't have a job that offers health insurance coverage (which you'd still have to pay for) you might not be able to get insurance at all. The companies can turn you down - and if you have any pre-existing medical conditions, or are over a certain age, they probably will. Even if you can get private medical insurance when your job doesn't offer coverage, that doesn't mean you can afford it. $500 a month is an average cost for a healthy husband and wife in their early thirties. And then you'd still have to pay partial costs on top of that when you actually saw a doc or had tests. And that coverage probably wouldn't include prescription drugs....
The US has the highest medical costs in the world (and our pharmaceutical companies are the most profitable companies in the country!) - and over 20% of our population has no health insurance coverage at all. Medical bills are the number one reason for personal bankruptcy. Don't even get me started - this whole topic is just a national shame.
- H
-------------------- Heather is the Administrator of the IBS Message Boards. She is the author of Eating for IBS and The First Year: IBS, and the CEO of Heather's Tummy Care. Join her IBS Newsletter. Meet Heather on Facebook!
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It's the insurance that's so expensive...
