Getting Affordable Health Care For You and the Family
Parents want to preemptively protect their families from injury and sickness. No one wants to think about their loved ones getting sick, injured, or potentially hospitalized. However, it is a fact of life that we all need to face. Your child or loved one could become injured, break a bone or require immediate, emergency surgery, and you’ll need family healthcare to help out.
The Cost of Health Care for Your Family
It is up to you to be financially and emotionally prepared. However, health insurance coverage for a family can be prohibitively expensive. Even though health insurance cost increases have slowed by slight increments, it doesn’t seem any less of a burden on our wallets.
In 2018, the cost of health care coverage for an average family of four was about $28,000. The average cost of health care coverage increased by over $1,220 from 2017 to 2018. Surprisingly, the rate of health care cost increases has slowed for over two decades. In 2018, health care costs increased by 4.5%. While in 2001, increases were as high as 7.4%. Still, this may be a small comfort to your family budget.
That being said, there are several ways for you get affordable health coverage for yourself and your family. The depth of coverage will always vary according to plans, but you have options. You might have the answers to your health care needs and not know it.
Employer-Provided Health Coverage
Most people acquire their health insurance through their employment. Make sure you ask your place of employment about it if you aren’t sure. A lot of employers and businesses provide health care coverage to their employees as a benefit of employment. Most employers pay for the lion’s share of the premium to provide this coverage. – sometimes up to 70% to 80% – while the employee pays for the remainder.
The amount of coverage you gain under employer-sponsored plans varies from business to business. Employers contribute about $16,000 per employee annually to satisfy premiums. Employee pay is deducted by about $7,600 a year. The average employee pays about $4,700 for all out of pocket expenses.
Healthcare.gov
You can learn about affordable health care options based on where you live by logging onto Healthcare.gov. This is a federally maintained website that helps people obtain affordable health insurance. Look for local exchanges and insurance companies that may offer plans that fit your family’s needs. Additionally, you can check if you qualify for plans based on your income and/or tax subsidies.
Insurance Agent
As long you don’t mind the exhaustive research involved, you can compare health care costs for various companies on your own. It might be a long shot, but you might find a company that fills your needs. Still, premiums for private health insurance plans will be more expensive than the employer or federally sponsored programs.
You can consult insurance agents for various companies to better consider your options. Remember that insurance agents represent their respective insurance companies. An insurance agent’s priority is to their company needs, not necessarily yours.
Insurance Broker
An insurance broker works as a liaison for multiple insurance companies. They coordinate matching your health care needs as an applicant to companies that can supply them. This might be a better option than an agent. Your odds of getting beneficial coverage improves if your application is considered for several companies. Still, do your research. No one will look out for your interests better than you.
There is No Reason to Go Without Coverage
Getting affordable health care for you and your family is not an impossible task. You may be able to get it through your employment. Or through private or publicly funded means. Make sure you protect your family – there is never a reason to go without it.
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