It used to be that the average American was only worried about making sure that they had health insurance coverage for their entire family. Since most people receive health insurance through their employer and in the past this used to be enough but now a days health insurance only covers you for so much and with so many different health care professionals branching and specializing health insurance may do little more than get you or a family member through the door and from there the medical expenses can add up quite quickly.
Quite honestly health insurance coverage isn’t what it used to be and as a result it is important to make sure that while you are making sure to pay your health insurance premiums that you are also putting aside some money for just in case you actually have a health issue arise. Now certainly you are probably thinking about a more serious illness, however, with the many ways in which health care professionals have begun to branch out and create little subdivisions and specialties the cost of health care is on the rise and you will find even getting blood drawn has become a separate and more costly procedure than it has ever been in the past.
All of these divisions of health care have lead to many more components that aren’t covered by major medical insurance and this can add up to large additional expenses to the patient. The cost of health care is on the rise and it is important to realize that health insurance coverage is only going to help with some of your medical expenses.
One way to prepare for an unexpected illness and have the ability to pay those additional out of pocket costs is to have a health savings plan or an earmarked separate account. There no longer is the comfort in knowing that the majority of the medical costs will be covered by the insurance company. Imagine the cost if the patient were paying 100% without the assistance of insurance.
If your company offers a tax exempt health savings plan, it would be to your benefit to be a participant. At least the contributions going into this type of account is on a pre-tax basis. In the future, the tax benefit of these types of plans may be diminishing and it will be important for people to earmark funds in a separate account to ensure they have the necessary funds to cover medical expenses when the unexpected medical emergency arises.
