Most Americans have trouble getting health insurance because it's expensive. Just in the last few years, the price of health insurance for your family has gone through the roof. I recently talked to an insurance agent, who told me that it's not uncommon for his clients to pay between $1,000 and $1,400 per month to cover their families.
I don't know many people who can easily afford monthly payments like that for insurance. Most people who pay them are giving up a lot in other areas. Most Americans put health insurance at the top of their list of priorities, so you might be surprised by the other things that get left behind. Without a doubt, many people have a much lower quality of life now that insurance costs so much.
In the meantime, many employers are cutting back on the insurance coverage for their workers. Teachers and firefighters, for example, used to pay all of their employees' health insurance premiums. Now, the employees are paying more and more of their own insurance costs.
How do people deal with it? Many Americans don't have health insurance because they can't afford it. That's a big problem not only for families, who often put off going to the doctor but also for society as a whole. People who don't want to buy medicine or see a doctor often end up in hospital emergency rooms when they are very sick.
Some people are just cutting back on how much health insurance they have. They pay a bigger share of the cost of going to the doctor and buying medicine. If you are a young adult, it might not make a lot of sense to pay a lot of money for insurance that covers you for major illnesses you are very unlikely to get.
More and more health insurance plans let you pick and choose which parts of coverage you want to pay for. Even though this was against the law in many states, more and more places are starting to see how smart and important it is.
The cost of prescription medicines is even more of a problem than the cost of health insurance. Many people can't buy the medicines they need because the prices keep going up and up. Others might be stubborn and willingly lower their standard of living just to be able to pay for medicine that is too expensive. More and more, the answer to this problem has nothing to do with insurance. Organizations can get big discounts on prescription drugs at thousands of chain and independent pharmacies across the country because they have a large number of members. Most of the time, you can save up to 60% on generic drugs and up to 15% on brand-name drugs.
This is a huge benefit for seniors, families, businesses, organisations, and anyone else who wants to save money on medicine. Some programmes also pay for the medicine your pets need. This can save you a lot of money over time if you take care of sick animals often.
Discount drug programmes are often free or cost very little compared to insurance. The discount programmes are a way for pharmacies to get you to buy from them. You and the medical industry both benefit from it.
